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Analytical Results For The Three-Body Radiative Attachment Rate Coefficient, With Application To The Positive Antihydrogen Ion H̄+, Jack C. Straton

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

To overcome the numerical difficulties inherent in the Maxwell–Boltzmann integral of the velocity-weighted cross section that gives the radiative attachment rate coefficient αRA for producing the negative hydrogen ion H⁻ or its antimatter equivalent, the positive antihydrogen ion H¯⁺ , we found the analytic form for this integral. This procedure is useful for temperatures below 700 K, the region for which the production of H¯⁺ has potential use as an intermediate stage in the cooling of antihydrogen to ultra-cold (sub-mK) temperatures for spectroscopic studies and probing the gravitational interaction of the anti-atom. Our results, utilizing a 50-term …