Quenching of Metastable Hydrogen

Abstract

Measurements are reported on the quenching of metastable hydrogen atoms by helium, neon, argon, ${\mathrm{H}}_2$, and ${\mathrm{N}}_2$, all in the energy range 0.5-4.5 keV. For helium, the measured cross sections are in good agreement with the results of a calculation using the eikonal method. This theoretical treatment leads to the conclusion that polarization of the helium atom is important and that the quenching is not dominated by a single process, such as $2s-2p$ transitions.