Double ionization of a three-electron atom: Spin correlation effects

Abstract

We study the effects of spin degrees of freedom and wave function symmetries on double ionization in three-electron systems. Each electron is assigned one spatial degree of freedom. The resulting three-dimensional Schrödinger equation is integrated numerically using grid-based Fourier transforms. We reveal three-electron effects on the double ionization yield by comparing signals for different ionization channels. We explain our findings by the existence of fundamental differences between three-electronic and truly two-electronic spin-resolved ionization schemes. We find, for instance, that double ionization from a three-electron system is dominated by electrons that have the opposite spin.