About ten years ago it was shown theoretically that after a sudden
ionization
the electronic many-body effects alone can beget rich ultrafast electron
dynamics. The positive charge created after the ionization can migrate
throughout the system on a femtosecond time scale solely driven by the
electron correlation and electron relaxation. Although typical for the
inner-valence ionized states, it appeared only recently that this charge
migration phenomenon can also take place after ionization out of the
outer-valence shell. The ab initio method for multielectron wave-packet
propagation developed for treating electron dynamics following
ionization will be presented. The approach is equally suitable for
tracing in real time and space the electron dynamics of both decaying
and non-decaying electronic states. Results from calculations on
different systems will be presented and the mechanisms underlying the
charge migration will be analyzed in terms of simple models. The
possibilities for experimental verification of the phenomenon will also
be discussed. In particular, it will be shown that the charge migration
may produce a measurable IR radiation.