Classical Theory of Electronic and Ionic Inelastic Collisions

A classical theory of inelastic atomic collisions is given. It is shown that inelastic scattering, ionization, excitation, and other interactions between charged particles and atoms are due to the Coulomb interaction with atomic electrons and depend in a first approximation on their binding energy and momentum distribution. All cross sections can easily be calculated by means of differential cross sections σ(ΔE) and σ(ΔE, ϑ) derived in the binary encounter approximation. Numerical calculations have been made for several cases and are in very good agreement with the experimental results.