Parity nonconservation in electron recombination of multiply charged ions

Abstract

We discuss a parity nonconserving asymmetry in the cross section of KLL dielectronic recombination of polarized electrons on the hydrogen-like ions with $Z\lesssim 60$. This effect is strongly enhanced because of the near-degeneracy of doubly-excited $2l2l^{\prime }$ states of opposite parity in He-like ions. For ions with $Z\sim 30$ the asymmetry is of the order of $10^{-9}$. For $Z\approx 48$ a level crossing takes place, leading to the PNC asymmetry of $\pm 5\times 10^{-9}$, which is $10^8$ times greater than the basic strength of the weak interaction in atoms.

11 pages, 5 figures; v.2: sign errors in Eqs.(29-32,38) corrected, figs.4,5 and related discussion changed