Multicenter continuum distorted wave with eikonal initial state model for single ionization in ion-molecule collisions: Differential electron emission from water under energetic ion impact

A multicenter continuum distorted wave with eikonal initial state model for single ionization of molecules by energetic ion impact is developed. The multicenter nature of the molecular ion is explicitly taken into account, within the framework of the independent electron approach, where the interaction between the ejected electron and the residual molecular ion is described by an anisotropic model potential. The method is employed to calculate doubly and singly differential cross sections of the water molecule by energetic H+, C6+, and O8+ projectiles. The discussion of the results is primarily focused on the emission of low-energy electrons, where the evaluated cross sections are compared with experimental and available theoretical data. © 2023 American Physical Society.