Database of differential cross sections for hydrogen ionization by proton impact

Abstract

Most of the atomic collision databases in the research data centers are only two-dimensional, typically with the value of collision energy as the abscissa and the cross section value of the process as the ordinate, possibly with up to a few discrete quantum number labels. This design paradigm dating from decades ago, when experiment and theory produced data exclusively in this limited format, has survived to the present day. Meanwhile, multi-dimensional datasets resolved with energy of the process fragments, scattering angles and other variables became customary in the experiment; also recent work in theory often produces highly resolved differential datasets. Nevertheless, the development of new multi-dimensional databases is costly and delayed for most research institutes in the field of atomic physics at present. Scientists are forced to produce two-dimensional projected or integrated datasets to fit the online database format or resign at the task of data upload and sharing. To address this problem, we have developed an online database that supports multi-dimensional cross section data and provides graphical interface for 2D and 3D data plots. The database system is an open-source free-software highly extendible solution organized in modules that can be further reused in an online database builder software. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.