Electronic absorption spectrum of CO+ in an ion beam

The He+He⁺¹ interactions have been studied, as a function of the internuclear separation R, in terms of the electronic forces acting on the nuclei and the change in the charge distribution. The analysis reveals that at large R the atomic densities are polarized inwards, causing an attractive force on each nucleus, while at small R the difference in the nature of the interactions in the ²Σ_u and ²Σ_g systems is noted. It is seen that the He+He⁺¹ (²Σ_u) interaction is less attractive than the He⁺¹+He⁺¹ interaction at lower values of R.