Inelastic electron injection in a water chain
Abstract
Irradiation of biological matter triggers a cascade of secondary particles that interact with their surroundings, resulting in damage. Low-energy electrons are one of the main secondary species and electron-phonon interaction plays a fundamental role in their dynamics. We have developed a method to capture the electron-phonon inelastic energy exchange in real time and have used it to inject electrons into a simple system that models a biological environment, a water chain. We simulated both an incoming electron pulse and a steady stream of electrons and found that electrons with energies just outside bands of excited molecular states can enter the chain through phonon emission or absorption. Furthermore, this phonon-assisted dynamical behaviour shows great sensitivity to the vibrational temperature, highlighting a crucial controlling factor for the injection and propagation of electrons in water.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1612.07959,
title = {Inelastic electron injection in a water chain},
author = {Valerio Rizzi and Tchavdar N. Todorov and Jorge J. Kohanoff},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1612.07959},
year = {2017}
}