9214087 Perger This award supports Professor Warren F. Perger of Michigan Technological University for collaborative research in physics with Professor Dirk Trautmann of the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the University of Basel, Switzerland. The objective of their joint research is to accurately calculate the relativistic ionization form factor. Their research plan effectively exploits their complementary expertise. They will work with data produced by the experimental group at Basel, testing a computer program developed by Professor Trautmann, and using atomic continuum wave functions generated by a program written by Professor Beers. This will give Professor Beers valuable experience in applying his computational expertise to a realistic atomic physics problem. The nature of relativistic effects on ionization cross-sections is not well understood. Detailed knowledge of the ionization cross section, which can be obtained from the ionization form factor, is of great importance in many applications of atomic collision theory to plasma physics and in studies of the physics of stellar atmospheres. ***
