|
The positron is the
antiparticle of the electron (same mass but
positive charge), is the
most common antiparticle, and is now used
in everything from medical
imaging (PET-scans) to locating defects in
materials. It has been known for about a decade that
positrons can
bind to neutral atoms, and
this talk will review recent computational
research on the 11 known positronic
atoms. This talk will also
contain some
configuration-interaction calculations of helium as a
testbed for understanding electron-electron interactions,
an age-old
problem that causes both
atomic physicists and quantum chemists alike
to lose sleep. Given that even helium is 'slowly
convergent', I will
then struggle to find an
adjective that characterises the convergence
properties of mixed-positron-electron systems.
|
