The state of an atomic-molecular system near the stability threshold

The state of an atomic-molecular system near its stability threshold with regard to the detachment of one of the particles is studied. The decay of the system upon a decrease in the charge of a binding particle, as well upon an increasasymmetry of masses of like-charged particles, is considered. A special variational principle that allows one to directly calculate the threshold state of the system without repeatedly calculating its energy for different values of masses and charges of particles is used. With the motion of all particles fully taken into account, the threshold states of two-electron atoms with different nuclear charges and of atomic-molecular systems corresponding to the attachment of a positron of variable mass to a neutral atom are calculated. On the basis of calculation of quantum-mechanical expectation values of the kinetic energy of particles and the potential energy of their interaction, the rearrangement of the wave function upon passage of the system through the decay threshold is examined. The threshold characteristics of a purely adiabatic system containing infinitely heavy particles are considered separately.