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Four-body postcollision interaction and two-photon pathways in neon double-core-hole states

Abhishek Verma1,2,3, Renaud Guillemin1, Ralph Püttner4, Iyas Ismail1, Dimitris Koulentianos5, Gilles Doumy5, Tatiana Marchenko1, Oksana Travnikova1, Dawei Peng1,6 et al.

Nicolas Velasquez1,7, Anthony Ferté1,8, Francis Penent1, Florian Trinter7, Linda Young5,9, Stephen H. Southworth5, Alberto De Fanis6, Thomas Baumann6, Simon Dold6, Markus Ilchen6,8,10, Daniel Rivas6, Edwin Kukk1,11, Stéphane Carniato1, Tommaso Mazza6, Michael Meyer6, John Bozek2,*, and Marc Simon1,12,†

  • *Contact author: john.bozek@synchrotron-soleil.fr
  • †Contact author: marc.simon@sorbonne-universite.fr
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043127 – Published 4 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/62xn-rkzr

Abstract

Double-core-hole (DCH) states offer a unique window into electron correlation and multielectron dynamics. Using intense x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulses and high photon-energy resolution, we generate DCH states in neon via sequential absorption of two x-ray photons within the 1s core-hole lifetime (≅2.4 fs). These DCH states are populated, depending on the photon energy, via two different pathways, and they are detected via their KLL hypersatellite Auger decay. A high-photon-energy-resolution study of these two pathways, previously identified in water, allows us to reveal further details of the corresponding processes. The sequential double-ionization with two photons also allows us to study postcollision interaction (PCI) in a four-particle system consisting of the remaining ion, as well as two photoelectrons and one Auger electron, each with well-defined velocities. The observed PCI shift is well described by a theoretical approach based on the eikonal approximation and shows that the influence on the Auger electron is dominated by the slow photoelectron, while the fast photoelectron provides only a minor correction. Calculations show that for the utilized two-photon double-ionization scheme to prepare DCH states, the length of the FEL pulse influences the PCI shift.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043127– Published 4 November, 2026
  • Received 8 May 2026
  • Accepted 2 October 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by Max Planck Society.

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