Variational treatment of continuum orbitals for Auger electrons emitted from neon

A variational method is applied to obtain the wave function of the continuum Auger electron emitted from an ionized neon atom. The trial function is taken to depend on several adjustable parameters, and the wave function of the electrons in different orbitals, such that all possible virtual states of the quantum mechanical system composed of the Auger electron and the ion are represented. The continuum wave function is improved iteratively by increasing the number of terms.Auger transition rates are then calculated applying the angular momentum average scheme, and are compared with other theoretical and experimental results. Agreement with the latest experiment is achieved.