Calculation of Energy and Angular Distributions of Electrons Produced in Intermediate-Energy p + H2 Collisions

Abstract

We extend the two-centre wave-packet convergent close-coupling approach to doubly differential ionisation in proton collisions with H2 to intermediate projectile energies. The results for the doubly differential cross section at projectile energies from 48 to 200 keV are presented as a function of the energy and angle of emitted electrons. We consider a wide range of emission angles from 10 to 160∘, and compare our results to experimental data, where available. Excellent agreement between the presented results and the experimental data was found, especially for emission angles less than 130∘. For very large backward emission angles our calculations tended to slightly overestimate the experimental data when energetic electrons are ejected and the doubly differential cross section is very small. This discrepancy may be due to the large uncertainties in the experimental data in this region and the model target description. Overall, the present results show significant improvement upon currently available theoretical results and provide a consistently accurate description of this process across a wide range of incident energies.