American Physical Society, Physical Review A, 5(86)
DOI: 10.1103/physreva.86.052705
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A non-perturbative approach to the solution of the time-dependent, two-center Dirac equation is presented with a special emphasis on the proper treatment of the potential of the nuclei. In order to account for the full multipole expansion of this potential, we express eigenfunctions of the two-center Hamiltonian in terms of well-known solutions of the "monopole" problem that employs solely the spherically-symmetric part of the interaction. When combined with the coupled-channel method, such a wavefunction-expansion technique allows for an accurate description of the electron dynamics in the field of moving ions for a wide range of internuclear distances. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach, the probabilities of the K- as well as L- shell ionization of hydrogen-like ions in the course of nuclear alpha-decay and slow ion-ion collisions have been calculated.