INTERACTION BETWEEN AN ATOM AND A MESOSCOPIC HELICOIDAL SYSTEM - FOURIER-TRANSFORM ANALYSIS

A Fourier-transform analysis (FTA) of the interaction potential between an atom and a helicoidal periodic distribution of atoms is presented. The accuracy of this procedure is tested with respect to the standard pairwise potential sum techniques. It is shown that the convergence of FTA is quite good, mainly when the probe atom lies inside the helicoidal cavity and when the matter density on the helix remains reasonably large. Criteria are given for the applicability of the FTA to a helicoidal atomic distribution.