Excited-state positronium formation in positron–hydrogen collisions under weakly coupled plasmas

The effect of screening of weakly coupled plasma on positronium (Ps) formation in excited states in the scattering of a positron from the ground state of a hydrogen atom has been investigated using a distorted wave theory which includes screened dipole polarization potential. The effect of external plasma has been incorporated by using the Debye–Hückel screening model of the interacting charge particles. Variationally determined simple hydrogenic wave functions have been used to obtain the distorted wave scattering amplitude in a closed form. Effects of plasma screening on the differential and total cross sections have been studied in detail in the energy range 20–300 eV of incident positron. For the free atomic case, our results agree nicely with some of the most accurate results available in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, such a study on the differential and total cross sections for Ps formation in highly excited states in positron–hydrogen collisions under weakly coupled plasma is reported first time in the literature. (paper)