Efficiencies for production of atomic nitrogen and oxygen by relativistic proton impact in air

Abstract

Relativistic electron and proton impact cross sections are obtained and represented by analytic forms which span the energy range from threshold to 10⁹ eV. For ionization processes, the Massey–Mohr continuum generalized oscillator strength surface is parametrized. Parameters are determined by simultaneous fitting to (1) empirical data, (2) the Bethe sum rule, and (3) doubly differential cross sections for ionization. Branching ratios for dissociation and predissociation from important states of N₂ and O₂ are determined. The efficiency for the production of atomic nitrogen and oxygen by protons with kinetic energy less than 1 GeV is determined using these branching ratio and cross section assignments.