Ionization of water molecules by fast charged projectiles

Single-ionization cross sections of water molecules colliding with fast protons are calculated from lowest-order perturbation theory by taking all electrons and molecular orientations consistently into account. Explicit analytical formulas based on the peaking approximation are obtained for differential ionization cross sections with the partial contribution from the various electron orbitals accounted for. The results, which are in very good agreement with total and partial cross sections at high electron and projectile energies, display a strong variation on molecular orientation and molecular orbitals.