Reactive collisions in confined geometries

TL;DR

This paper derives analytical formulas for reactive collisions of particles under confinement, revealing how external geometries modify scattering behavior and suppress confinement-induced resonances in reactive systems.

Contribution

It provides the first analytic expressions for confinement-modified reactive scattering rates using quantum defect theory, accounting for short-range reactivity.

Findings

Reactions suppress confinement-induced resonances.

Analytic formulas relate scattering rates to phase and reactivity parameters.

Universal loss limit eliminates confinement resonances.

Abstract

We consider low energy threshold reactive collisions of particles interacting via a van der Waals potential at long range in the presence of external confinement and give analytic formulas for the confinement modified scattering in such circumstances. The reaction process is described in terms of the short range reaction probability. Quantum defect theory is used to express elastic and inelastic or reaction collision rates analytically in terms of two dimensionless parameters representing phase and reactivity. We discuss the modifications to Wigner threshold laws for quasi-one-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional geometries. Confinement-induced resonances are suppressed due to reactions and are completely absent in the universal limit where the short-range loss probability approaches unity.