Ionization of a Weakly Bound Diatomic System by Relativistic Charged Projectiles

This chapter provides a detailed insight into the theoretical treatment of the single electron emission from a weakly bound diatomic system by relativistic charged projectiles via direct and two-center impact ionization. We derive the angular and energy distributions as well as the total cross section for these ionization mechanisms. Based on their numerical results we discuss, in particular, the influence of the relativistic effects, caused by a large projectile velocity and a large size of the diatomic system, on the two-center ionization channel. Besides, we also consider the relative effectiveness of two-center impact ionization compared with direct impact ionization. The following chapter is mainly based on results published initially in Ref. [43].