Two-photon annihilation of positrons with K-shell electrons of H-like ions

The two-photon annihilation of a positron with an electron bound in the 1s state of a H-like ion is calculated within the fully relativistic QED framework. The interaction with the nucleus is treated nonperturbatively, thus allowing the calculations to be carried out for the annihilation with strongly bound inner shells of heavy ions. Infrared divergences, appearing when one of the emitted photons approaches the low-frequency limit, are accurately eliminated from final expressions. The total cross section of the two-photon and one-photon annihilation processes are compared for a wide range of collision energies and nuclear charge numbers. It is demonstrated that the two-photon annihilation channel dominates over the one-photon channel for the low- and medium-Z ions, whereas for the high-Z ions the situation reverses.

Automated summary

The two-photon annihilation of a positron with an electron bound in the 1s state of a H-like ion is calculated within the fully relativistic QED framework. It is demonstrated that the two-photon annihilation channel dominates over the one-photon channel for the low- and medium-Z ions, whereas for the high-Z ions the situation reverses.