Inner-shell ionization of heavy atoms by slow ions. A study of electronic relativistic effects and projectile Coulomb deflection in the Semiclassical Approximation

Several investigations have been made on K and L shell ionization of the heavy collision partner in slow asymmetric collisions based on the SCA. The use of the SCA can only be defended for slow collisions if the projectile has a charge much less than the target. Thus this approximation should first be tested for proton impact on very heavy target elements. For these elements the inner shell electrons move sufficiently fast for a relativistic description to be mandatory. These relativistic effects are in themselves of some interest, as they can be quite large. After discussion of the formulation of the SCA used throughout this work, a further introduction is given on relativistic effects in Coulomb ionisation. Two papers on electronic relativistic effects in K and L shell ionization follow. The next two papers discuss calculations with an exact Coulomb projectile path. The latter of these also touches upon the inclusion of corrections to the SCA from terms beyond first order perturbation theory. In the last paper of this thesis it is shown how the theoretical apparatus developed for the SCA- calculations can immediately be used also for making calculations of more symmetric systems with the Briggs model. Thus, at least for direct ionization in very slow collisions a unification of the SA and MO approaches has apparently been reached. (JIW)