Title: Second Born electrons, and rescue at sea

Speaker: Prof. ARP Rau, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA

Abstract: Generally, a perturbation expansion with a non-zero first order term is followed by smaller higher order terms. An unusual exception is forward charge transfer between an ion and a neutral atom or molecule. At high incident ion velocities, the second Born term dominates over the first for that charge (electron) transfer from neutral to ion. Aspects of this will be discussed, along with a peculiar connection to the most efficient procedure for rescuing a person fallen overboard at sea. Connections go back a hundred years to the early days of quantum physics, even earlier in classical mechanics, and to gravitational analogs.