SEPARATED-ATOM AND UNITED-ATOM LIMITS FOR DYNAMIC ADIABATIC STATES

For the case of one-electron collisional systems and the straight-line nuclear trajectories, we study the limits of separated and united atoms of dynamical adiabatic states compatible with physical boundary conditions. The limit of separated atoms is similar to the problem of hydrogen atom in crossed, orthogonal electric and magnetic fields, and analytic results are obtained by utilizing the O(4) symmetry of bound states in a Coulomb field. In the united-atom limit the overlapping manifolds of dynamical potential-energy curves are predicted and analyzed.