Semi-classical coupled wavepacket study of the dissociative charge exchange He+ + H2 → He+H+H+

Non-adiabatic Quantum Dynamics of the Dissociative Charge Transfer He++H2 → He+H+H. Front Chem 2019;7:249. [PMID: 31041310 PMCID: PMC6477054 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2019.00249]

We present the non-adiabatic, conical-intersection quantum dynamics of the title collision where reactants and products are in the ground electronic states. Initial-state-resolved reaction probabilities, total integral cross sections, and rate constants of two H₂ vibrational states, v₀ = 0 and 1, in the ground rotational state (j₀ = 0) are obtained at collision energies E_coll ≤ 3 eV. We employ the lowest two excited diabatic electronic states of HeH2+ and their electronic coupling, a coupled-channel time-dependent real wavepacket method, and a flux analysis. Both probabilities and cross sections present a few groups of resonances at low E_coll, whose amplitudes decrease with the energy, due to an ion-induced dipole interaction in the entrance channel. At higher E_coll, reaction probabilities and cross sections increase monotonically up to 3 eV, remaining however quite small. When H₂ is in the v₀ = 1 state, the reactivity increases by ~2 orders of magnitude at the lowest energies and by ~1 order at the highest ones. Initial-state resolved rate constants at room temperature are equal to 1.74 × 10⁻¹⁴ and to 1.98 × 10⁻¹² cm³s⁻¹ at v₀ = 0 and 1, respectively. Test calculations for H₂ at j₀ = 1 show that the probabilities can be enhanced by a factor of ~1/3, that is ortho-H₂ seems ~4 times more reactive than para-H₂.