Radiative Electron Capture and the Photoionization of Hydrogenlike Ions

Radiative electron capture (REe) from a low-Z target into high-Z projectile up to U92+ has recently been studied in great detail. This process, in which an almost free electron is transferred from the target to the projectile with the simultaneous emission of a photon plays an important role in plasmas and in the spectroscopy of high-Z one- or few­ electron ions. It also provides a means to investigate the inverse reaction, the photoelectric effect, in a regime that is otherwise inaccessible. The theoretical development and some recent results are presented.