Production of positronium chloride: A study of the charge exchange reaction between Ps and Cl$^{-}$

Abstract

We present cross sections for the formation of positronium chloride (PsCl) in its ground state from the charge exchange between positronium (Ps) and chloride (Cl$^-$) in the range of 10 meV - 100 eV Ps energy. We have used theoretical models based on the first Born approximation in its three-body formulation. We simulated the collisions between Ps and Cl$^-$ using ab-initio methods at both mean-field and correlated levels extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. We have investigated Ps excited states up to ${n=4}$. The results suggest that the channel Ps(${n=2}$) is of particular interest for the production of PsCl in the ground state, and shows that an accurate treatment of the electronic correlation leads to a significant change in the global shape of the PsCl production cross section with respect to the mean-field level.