The strongly correlated stopping of N pointlike charges organized in clusters with a regular geometry is thoroughly investigated at high velocity as a linear and binary superposition of the stopping of a dicluster polarized with respect to the overall drift velocity. For N≥3, a priori unexpected N-body and collective behaviors are identified in terms of variations for the target electron density, cluster topology, charge distribution, and projectile velocity. The target is featured as a homogeneous and dense electron jellium quantified with the Wigner coupling parameters ${\mathit{r}}_{\mathit{S}}$. A corresponding dielectric function is taken in a plasmon pole approximation, allowing for a quasianalytic and transparent analysis. A recurring trend of this study is an enhanced stopping due to charge correlation, increasing rapidly with N. A noticeable counterexample is afforded by a regular N chain of charges flowing parallel to its velocity. As a rule, in most practical cases of interest, correlated charges within a few atomic interdistances can experience a stopping that is enhanced by orders of magnitudes relative to the isolated charge case, when stopped in a target at ordinary matter density, with initial kinetic energy in the tens of keV/amu range.

• Received 5 July 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.51.619