Practical means for the study of electron correlation in atoms

Electron correlation is basic to the understanding of a diverse range of physical and chemical phenomena, yet, there have been no direct measurements of the correlated motion of electrons. Measurement of the correlated momenta of atomic electrons is possible via electron-impact double ionization provided that the ionizing collisions are both impulsive and binary, and the three-body scattering mechanism is known. The results reported here satisfy these conditions, and a practical means for the study of atomic electron correlation through measurement of two-electron momentum densities is presented.

Ion Composition Results During the International Cometary Explorer Encounter with Giacobini-Zinner

The International Cometary Explorer spacecraft passed through the coma of comet Giacobini-Zinner about 7800 kilometers antisunward of the nucleus on 11 September 1985. The ion composition instrument was sensitive to ambient ions with mass-to-charge ratios in the ranges 1.4 to 3 atomic mass units per electron charge (amu e(-1)) and 14 to 33 amu e(-1). Initial interpretation of the measurements indicates the presence of H(2)O(+), H(3)O(+), probably CO(+) and HCO(+), and ions in the mass range 23 to 24; possible candidates are Na(+) and Mg(+). In addition to these heavy ions, measured over the velocity range 80 to 223 kilometers per second, the instrument measured He(2+) of solar wind origin over the range 237 to 463 kilometers per second. The heavy ions have a velocity distribution which indicates that they have been picked up by the motional electric field, whereas the light ions are steadily decelerated as the comet tail axis is approached. These results are in agreement with the picture of a comet primarily consisting of water ice, together with other material, that sublimes, streams away from the nucleus, becomes ionized, and interacts with the solar wind. K. W. Ogilvie, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 692, Greenbelt, MD 20771.

Multichannel (e,2e) apparatus

We describe an apparatus for the coincident observation of both outgoing electrons in an electron impact ionization, or (e,2e), experiment. The device employs ten detectors arranged such that every pair corresponds to a different set of momenta for the outgoing electrons intercepted by that pair. By simultaneously monitoring the output from all ten detectors it is possible to perform 25 simultaneous (e,2e) experiments. The results of these experiments can be compared without considering temporal variations of source conditions.