Many-electron phenomena in the ionization of ions

Full text: Single and multiple ionization in ion-atom collisions involve a multitude of complex interactions between the electrons and nuclei of projectile and target. Some of the complexity is avoided in studies of fast collisions when the impulse approximation can be applied and the electrons can be described as independent quasi-free particles with a known momentum distribution. For the detailed investigation of ionization mechanisms that can occur in fast ion-atom collisions, it is illuminating to consider collisions of ions (or atoms) and really free electrons with a narrow energy spread. High energy resolution in electron-ion collision studies provides access to individual, possibly even state-selective, reaction pathways. Even in the simple electron-ion collision system (simple compared with the initial ion-atom problem) single and multiple ionization still involve a multitude of complex mechanisms. Besides the direct removal of one or several electrons from the target by electron impact, resonant and non-resonant formation of intermediate multiply excited states which subsequently decay by electron emission is important in single and multiple ionization of ions and atoms. Direct ionization proceeds via one-step or multi-step knock-off mechanisms which can partly be disentangled by studying effects of different projectile species. The role of multiply excited states in the ionization can be experimentally studied in great detail by a further reduction of the initial ion-atom problem. Multiply excited states of atoms and ions can be selectively populated by photon-ion interactions making use of the potential for extreme energy resolution made available at modern synchrotron radiation sources. In the review talk, examples of studies on single and multiple ionization in electron-ion collisions will be discussed in some detail. Electron-ion collision experiments will also be compared with photon-ion interaction studies. Many-electron phenomena have been observed in direct multiple ionization and both in the formation and the subsequent decay of multiply excited intermediate states including collective excitations of the target