ANOMALOUS N-DEPENDENCE OF LOW-ENERGY ELECTRON-CAPTURE FROM ATOMIC-HYDROGEN BY MULTICHARGED IONS

A theory of electron capture from states of high principal quantum number n by multicharged ions is presented. We predict a capture cross section that depends upon the n of the initial state as nn(beta) where beta is as large as 7 in some cases. This surprisingly high n dependence explains why a small (less than 0.1%) fraction of hydrogen in high n states contributes 30% of the capture yield in O5+ + H collisions. The theory also predicts a strong dependence on the dipole moment of the initial state.