Differential Cross Sections for Electron Capture in High-Energy Proton-Atom Collisions

Abstract

Various high-energy calculations of proton-multielectron-atom differential capture cross sections are compared with each other (and with the data on $p$+Ar $K$-shell capture). The proton-core interaction, including screening from the core electrons, is found to affect significantly the differential cross sections. I speculate that final-state interactions of the hydrogen atom with the target electrons of large atomic targets play a significant role in capture events and are in part responsible for the poor agreement with the Ar data.