Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-3-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-4/61/b/solution

Far from a neutral bound system, the slowest-decaying electron-removal amplitude is controlled by the first ionization energy . Its asymptotic wavefunction satisfies a free-particle-like equation at negative energy , giving a decay exponent . Density is quadratic in the amplitude, so
or in atomic units. Power-law radial factors and angular dependence do not alter this leading exponential coefficient. It is the ionization energy, not the electron affinity, that controls this tail.

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