Angular correlation of autoionization electrons and photons emitted from collisionally aligned atomic states

Abstract

The angular correlation of autoionization electrons or of photons ejected from collisionally aligned excited atoms is calculated assuming unpolarized beam and target, and polarization-insensitive detectors. Starting from the two-step hypothesis for the formation and decay of the intermediate excited atoms, the angular correlation is expressed in terms of the density matrix describing the excited system. Using the symmetries of the density matrix, a minimal set of independent matrix elements is given and the conditions for which a complete determination of this set is experimentally possible are discussed. For the case of electron emission, simple examples are pointed out in which the angular correlation is independent of the reduced Coulomb matrix elements describing the decay.