Formation of Slow Electron Pairs in an External Coulomb Field

The wave equation for two electrons in an external Coulomb field (heliumlike atoms) has been shown to be a problem in a three-dimensional half-space. The wave-equation becomes quasi-separable in inertial coordinates. This allows to work out the electron motion in the frame of principal inertia axes. We find that non-adiabatic coupling terms constitute a fictitious force and lead to a deformation of the static potential surface. Incoming and outgoing modes of electron pairs are studied in detail, and applied to the threshold ionization of hydrogen-like atoms by electrons. Our analysis confirms the classical work by Wannier. However, we go beyond Wannier and present bending and stretch vibrations of electron pairs. The bending vibration has no influence onto the total ionization cross-section. The pair formation below threshold destroys the existence of high double Rydberg resonances. Finally, we describe the propagation of an electron pair through a linear chain of Rydberg atoms.