Atomic and molecular collisions is a research area focused on the dynamics of interactions between atoms, molecules, ions, and electrons over a wide range of energies, from ultracold to relativistic regimes. It investigates elastic, inelastic, and reactive scattering processes, including energy transfer, excitation, ionization, charge transfer, and chemical reaction pathways. The field combines quantum scattering theory, potential energy surface calculations, and semiclassical or fully quantum dynamical methods with beam, trap, and plasma experiments. Applications span astrophysics, atmospheric and plasma physics, fusion research, radiation damage, and controlled chemistry, providing benchmark data for cross sections, rate coefficients, and collisional models used in simulations of complex many-body systems.
Scattering takes place across the universe at large and miniscule scales. Billiard balls clank off each other in bars, the nuclei of atoms collide to power the stars and create heavy elements, and even sound waves deviate ...
Quantum Physics
Feb 11, 2025
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Quantum physics is a very diverse field: it describes particle collisions shortly after the Big Bang as well as electrons in solid materials or atoms far out in space. But not all quantum objects are equally easy to study. ...
Quantum Physics
Jan 7, 2025
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Neither gas nor liquid, supercritical fluids exhibit a unique mashup of the properties of both and arise when fluids are pushed to very high temperatures and pressures. Their properties make them ideal for a wide variety ...
General Physics
Dec 19, 2024
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A new study published in Physical Review Letters and led by researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has demonstrated that a Coulomb explosion induced by highly charged ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 13, 2024
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Since the first X-ray image of a comet was reported using an X-ray telescope in 1996, the investigation of charge exchange in collisions between highly charged ions and atoms or molecules has emerged as a hot research topic.
Quantum Physics
Oct 29, 2024
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Quantum theory describes events that take place on extremely short time scales. In the past, such events were regarded as 'momentary' or 'instantaneous': An electron orbits the nucleus of an atom—in the next moment it is ...
Quantum Physics
Oct 22, 2024
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An international team of scientists is the first to report incredibly small time delays in a molecule's electron activity when the particles are exposed to X-rays.
Optics & Photonics
Aug 22, 2024
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133
When atomic nuclei and subatomic particles interact, the results are incredibly complex. These are the "many body problems" of quantum mechanics. To help make sense of these interactions, scientists create ways to simplify ...
General Physics
Jul 8, 2024
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71
During electron-impact ionization (EII), high-energy electrons collide with atoms, knocking away one or more of their outer electrons. To calculate the probability that ionization will occur during these impacts, researchers ...
General Physics
Jun 26, 2024
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105
Two-dimensional materials such as graphene promise to form the basis of incredibly small and fast technologies, but this requires a detailed understanding of their electronic properties. New research demonstrates that fast ...
Nanomaterials
May 17, 2024
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