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It is generally assumed that ionization in slow collisions of light atomicparticles, whose constituents (electrons and nuclei) move with velocitiesorders of magnitude smaller than the speed of light, is driven solely by theCoulomb force. Here we show, however, that the Breit interaction -- arelativistic correction to the Coulomb interaction between electrons -- canbecome the main actor when the colliding system couples resonantly to thequantum radiation field. Our results demonstrate that this ionization mechanismcan be very efficient in various not too dense physical environments, includingstellar plasmas and atomic beams propagating in gases.

Breit interaction overtaking Coulomb force at low energies: an unexpectedly efficient mechanism for ionization in slow collisions