Ion-atom-atom three-body recombination in cold hydrogen and deuterium plasmas

TL;DR

This study uses classical trajectory calculations to analyze ion-atom-atom three-body recombination in hydrogen and deuterium plasmas, revealing dominant reaction products and energy-dependent reaction rates.

Contribution

It provides a detailed classical analysis of three-body recombination in hydrogen and deuterium plasmas, highlighting the role of long-range interactions and identifying a new dynamical regime.

Findings

H₂⁺ and D₂⁺ are the main reaction products.

Reaction rate increases steeply when collision energy exceeds dissociation energy.

Long-range charged-induced dipole interactions dominate the process.

Abstract

We present a detailed study about ion-atom-atom three-body recombination in hydrogen and deuterium plasmas based on classical trajectory calculations in hyperspherical coordinates. Our results, due to the predominant role of the long-range charged-induced dipole interaction, indicate that H$_2^+$ and D$_2^+$ are the main reaction products in the case of hydrogen and deuterium plasmas, respectively. Besides, we find a more steep energy-dependent reaction rate when the collision energy surpasses the dissociation energy of the molecular ion, thus entering a new dynamical regime dominated by short-range interactions.