K-shell photoionization of multielectron atomic systems

A simplified procedure is proposed for calculating the cross section for photoionization from the K-shell for a general atomic system that contains an arbitrary number of outer-shell electrons. The procedure retains the formalism of the one-electron atom case (pure Coulomb-field problem) by determining the effective nuclear charge reduced from Z by 'screening parameters' associated with the other K-shell electron and the outer-bound electrons. The parameters are determined essentially by fitting the atom's radial electric field to Coulomb form at the distance from the nucleus where the integrand of the dipole radial integral is peaked.