The internal excitation and ionization probabilities during $K$-electron capture have been treated relativistically by the use of hydrogenic wave functions. Relativistic and nonrelativistic calculations for the double $K$-hole production probability, the total internal ionization probability, and the energy spectrum of the ejected electrons are presented. The present calculations show that the relativistic effects cause a substantial reduction in the probabilities. The calculated probabilities of the double $K$-hole production and the total internal ionization have been compared with the experimental values, and there has been fairly good agreement between the calculated and the recently measured values. The spectral shape of the ejected electrons calculated from the present relativistic theory is similar to that obtained from the previous nonrelativistic and relativistic theories. The theoretical curves are in good agreement with the experimental results in the high-energy region. The discrepancies between the theory and the various experiments are discussed and further work is suggested.

• Received 11 June 1973

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.8.1308