Full two-electron calculations of antiproton collisions with molecular hydrogen

Total cross sections for single ionization and excitation of molecular hydrogen by antiproton impact are presented over a wide range of impact energies from 1 keV to 6.5 MeV. A nonperturbative time-dependent close-coupling method is applied to fully treat the correlated dynamics of the electrons. Good agreement is obtained between the present calculations and experimental measurements of single-ionization cross sections at high energies, whereas some discrepancies with the experiment are found around the maximum. The importance of the molecular geometry and a full two-electron description is demonstrated. The present findings provide benchmark results which might be useful for the development of molecular models.