Pr e f a c e

This book is addressed to graduat e students and professional scientists who

are interested in atomic collisions at relativistic energies. Although nor-
mally one would not associate the investigation of atomic phenomena with
relativistic collisions, these collisions bring some unique opportunities to
at omi c-st ruct ure and collision studies in experiment and theory, especially
for ions of high atomic number Z. (1) Atomic collisions at relativistic en-
ergies allow the production of highly stripped ion beams up to uranium,
with which at omi c-st ruct ure studies of few electron ions can be undertaken.
In such high-Z systems, quant um-el ect rodynami c effects are emphasized.
(2) At relativistic energies, the processes of inner-shell electron excitation,
ionization, and capture become relatively simple, even for the highest-Z
ions, allowing a systematic investigation of these processes. The availabil-
ity of relativistic heavy-ion storage rings is particularly helpful in these
investigations. (3) Peripheral collisions of high-Z nuclei at extreme rela-
tivistic energies can be viewed as virtual phot on-phot on collisions because
of the Lorentz contraction of the nuclear Coulomb field in the direction of
motion. The field of phot on-phot on collision physics thereby becomes ac-
cessible. The expected production of single and multiple electron-positron
pairs presents new experimental and theoretical challenges and may assist
in the production of new elementary particles of interest in high-energy
physics.
This book concentrates on atomic collisional processes and leaves the
consideration of at omi c-st ruct ure studies to other reviews. It is assumed
t hat the reader is familiar with nonrelativistic quant um mechanics and had
an introduction to the Dirac equation. Part I of the book, Chaps. 2 - 5, is in
the nat ure of a t ext and discusses the basic equations of special relativity, of
electromagnetic fields, and of relativistic electron motion in a Coulomb po-
tential and in the electromagnetic field of colliding nuclei. This part should
xi
xii PREFACE
be of general interest to readers who wish to become familiar with the theo-
retical t reat ment of relativistic collisions as well as with relativistic electron
theory. Part II of the book, Chaps. 6 - 10, is more in the nat ure of a review
and considers the basic atomic-collision processes, excitation and ionization,
and capt ure without and with the emission of radiation. Electron-positron
pair production, which is the signature of relativistic collisions, is t reat ed
by pert urbat i ve and nonpert urbat i ve methods. An outlook on extreme rel-
ativistic collisions is included, where multiple-pair production is expected.
Part III of the book, Chaps. 11 - 13, presents experimental techniques
which might be useful in the field. Appendices on units, a list of the book' s
tables and graphs, and a bibliography are collected in Part IV.
The book could not have been wri t t en without frequent meetings of
the authors, which were facilitated by support from the NATO Collabo-
rative Research Grant No. 910044 and from the Int ernat i onal -Programs
and Physics Divisions of the National Science Foundation (U.S.) t hrough
grants to Stanford University, Nos. INT-9013087 and PHY-9019293, re-
spectively. One of us (J.E.) profited from a 1-month stay supported by the
National Science Foundation t hrough a grant to the Inst i t ut e for Theoreti-
cal Atomic and Molecular Physics at Harvard University and Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory, and also from extended visits to the University
of Tsukuba, Japan, and to the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.
The authors are grateful for the cooperation of many professional col-
leagues, in particular A. Belkacem, F. Decker, D.P. Dewangan, R. DSrner,
H. Gould, D. Ionescu, P. Mokler, G. Soft, T. St6hlker, N. Toshima, and
J. Ullrich. The able assistance of Ms. I. Lang in preparing the figures is
greatly appreciated.
JSrg Eichler
Walter E. Meyerhof