Born Cross Sections for the Excitation of Helium by Fast Protons

Abstract

Cross sections for excitation of helium by proton impact have been calculated in the Born approximation. Transitions from the ground state to the n1P(n = 2 and 3) states have been considered. Highly accurate wave functions of the Hartree–Fock and configuration-interaction type have been used to represent the ground state. Approximate wave functions due to Messmer have been employed for the final states. The results are compared with other calculations and with experiments.