In the present work our experimental results on the energy shifts and energy widths (full width of half-maximum) of the quasi-elastic peaks (1-5 keV) obtained using a high-energy-resolution electron spectrometer and different (C, Si, Ni and Au) surfaces are compared with those calculated by assuming single elastic scattering on free atoms having a Maxwell-Boltzmann thermal velocity distribution. There is a good agreement in the case of the energy shifts as well as for the energy broadenings obtained using higher atomic number polycrystalline samples (Ni, Au). In the case of Si, however, the measured energy broadening is systematically larger by 15-20% than the calculated broadening for the whole primary beam energy range. Compared with the calculated values, considerably larger broadenings (by 30-60%, depending on the primary beam energy) were observed for carbonic samples. The contribution of the multiple elastic scattering to the yield of the electrons backscattered elastically, and the effect of the multiple scattering on the energy shifts and Doppler broadenings, have been determined using Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show that multiple scattering causes only small changes in energy shifts and energy broadenings of elastic peaks in the case of the samples and primary electron energy region studied.

We report the direct observation of interference effects in a Young's double-slit experiment where the interfering waves are two spatially separated components of the de Broglie wave of single 1.3 MeV hydrogen atoms formed close to either target nucleus in H++H2 electron-transfer collisions. Quantum interference strongly influences the results even though the hydrogen atoms have a de Broglie wavelength, lambda_{dB}, as small as 25 fm.

We report experimental angular differential cross sections for nonradiative single-electron capture in p-He collisions (p + He → H + He + ) with a separate peak at the 0.47 mrad Thomas scattering angle for energies in the 1.3-12.5 MeV range. We find that the intensity of this peak scales with the projectile velocity as v −11 P . This constitutes the first experimental test of the prediction from 1927 by L. H. Thomas [Proc. R. Soc. 114, 561 (1927)]. At our highest energy, the peak at the Thomas angle contributes with 13.5% to the total integrated nonradiative single-electron capture cross section.

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