Slow ions interacting with metals introduce a strong rearrangement of electronic charge in their vicinity. We show the way in which density functional theory can be used to describe such displacement of charge and the subsequent modification of the screening properties of the medium. We also discuss some of the electron capture processes that lead to the eventual neutralization of the ions. We particularly focus into the Auger and radiative processes and review some theoretical calculations of the rates for these processes. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This work was supported in part by the Basque Departamento de Educación, Universidades e Investigación, the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (Grant No. 9/UPV 0206.215-13639/2001), and the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Grant No. MAT2001-0946).

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