An Orbital Basis Set for Double Photoionization of Atoms and Molecules

The <i>ab initio</i> theoretical treatment of one-photon double photoionization processes has been limited to atoms and diatomic molecules by the challenges posed by large grid-based representations of the double ionized continuum wave function. To provide a path for extensions to polyatomics, an energy-adapted orbital basis approach is demonstrated that reduces the dimensions of such representations and simultaneously allows larger time steps in time-dependent computational descriptions of double ionization. Additionally, an algorithm that exploits the diagonal nature of the two-electron integrals in the grid basis and dramatically accelerates the transformation between grid and orbital representations is presented. Excellent agreement between the present results and benchmark theoretical calculations is found for H^- and Be atoms, as well as the hydrogen molecule, including for the triply differential cross sections that relate the angular distribution and energy sharing of all of the particles in the molecular frame.