Evaluation of the single ionisation transition amplitude using the CDW-EIS model within the framework of the impact-parameter method

The continuum distorted-wave model with an eikonal initial state for ionisation is discussed within the framework of the impact-parameter method. Particular attention is paid to the surface term, which describes the transition by a distorting potential, and which has been omitted in all of the previous calculations performed using the model. However, this term is included in the transition amplitude in a recent application of the model based upon a quantum-mechanical treatment. The present study, in which the surface term is evaluated within the impact-parameter method, shows that this term does not contribute to the transition amplitude. In describing the electron-ejection mechanism for a p^±–H collision, the cross-sections evaluated using the impact-parameter model show numerical agreement with those determined in the quantum-mechanical version. This agreement indicates that the contribution of the surface term calculated in the wave treatment is negligible over the region in which the impact-parameter model is valid.