Mechanisms of atomic and molecular recombination and collision-induced dissociation

Despite some evidence to the contrary, current chemical kinetics textbooks assume that atomic and molecular recombination and collision-induced dissociation (CID) occur only via sequences of two-body collisions. In this work an approximate quantum method treating all mechanisms simultaneously and on equal footing is used to calculate cross sections for the reaction Ne-2 + H reversible arrow Ne + Ne + H. The results provide the first clear quantum evidence that direct three-body as well as sequential two-body collision mechanisms do contribute significantly to recombination and CID. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.