Keywords

Dissociative Recombination, H3+, MQDT

Abstract

Dissociative recombination of molecular ions by collisions with electrons is a reactive collision, in which the electronic kinetic energy is transferred to the excitation of the molecule that, then, dissociates. The goals of this dissertation was (1) to improve existing approaches in theory of DR of triatomic ions in the time-independent framework developed in recent years by Kokoouline and Greene, and (2) to develop a time-dependent theoretical framework for DR treatment based on quantum defect theory. The theoretical method developed by Kokoouline and Greene is based on multichannel quantum defect theory and accounts for the major non-Born-Oppenheimer Jahn-Teller interaction between electronic and vibrational motions of the molecule. The study of this dissertation is partially based on this method but improved, extended, and systematically applied in the framework of my thesis. This dissertation presents the calculated DR rate coefficient for H3+ within the time-independent framework and the description of the method used to obtain the (qualitative) flux with time-dependent method. The time-independent results show good agreement with experimental data from storage ring experiments. The DR rate coefficients for ortho- and para-H3+ were calculated separately and show a significant difference at very low electronic energies; a result that agrees with recent storage ring experiments. Also, it is discussed results for other isotopologues of H3+ (H2D+, D2H+, and D3+) and the results for vibrationally-excited initial states of H3+. It was found that the DR rate coefficients for vibrationally-excited initial states are larger than the rates for the ion initially in the ground vibrational state. At the end, this dissertation discuss the time-dependent calculations done with a diatomic model system.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2009

Advisor

Kokoouline, Viatcheslav

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Physics

Degree Program

Physics

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0002668

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002668

Language

English

Release Date

May 2009

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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