Local angular momentum-local impact parameter analysis: derivation and properties of the fundamental identity, with applications to the F+H2, H+D2, and Cl+HCl chemical reactions

A single resonance Regge pole dominates the forward-angle scattering of the state-to-state F + H2 → FH + H reaction at Etrans = 62.09 meV

The aim of the present paper is to bring clarity, through simplicity, to the important and long-standing problem: does a resonance contribute to the forward-angle scattering of the F + H2 reaction? We reduce the problem to its essentials and present a well-defined, yet rigorous and unambiguous, investigation of structure in the differential cross sections (DCSs) of the following three state-to-state reactions at a translational energy of 62.09 meV: F + H2(vi = 0, ji = 0, mi = 0) → FH(vf = 3, jf = 0, 1, 2, mf = 0) + H, where vi, ji, mi and vf, jf, mf are the initial and final vibrational, rotational and helicity quantum numbers respectively. Firstly, we carry out quantum-scattering calculations for the Fu-Xu-Zhang potential energy surface, obtaining accurate numerical scattering matrix elements for indistinguishable H2. The calculations use a time-independent method, with hyperspherical coordinates and an enhanced Numerov method. Secondly, the following theoretical techniques are employed to analyse structures in the DCSs: (a) full and Nearside-Farside (NF) partial wave series (PWS) and local angular momentum theory, including resummations of the full PWS up to second order. (b) The recently introduced "CoroGlo" test, which lets us distinguish between glory and corona scattering at forward angles for a Legendre PWS. (c) Six asymptotic (semiclassical) forward-angle glory theories and three asymptotic farside rainbow theories, valid for rainbows at sideward-scattering angles. (d) Complex angular momentum (CAM) theories of forward and backward scattering, with the Regge pole positions and residues computed by Thiele rational interpolation. Thirdly, our conclusions for the three PWS DCSs are: (a) the forward-angle peaks arise from glory scattering. (b) A broad (hidden) farside rainbow is present at sideward angles. (c) A single Regge pole contributes to the DCS across the whole angular range, being most prominent at forward angles. This proves that a resonance contributes to the DCSs for the three transitions. (d) The diffraction oscillations in the DCSs arise from NF interference, in particular, interference between the Regge pole and direct subamplitudes.

Nearside-Farside Analysis of the Angular Scattering for the State-to-State H + HD → H2 + D Reaction: Nonzero Helicities

We theoretically analyze the differential cross sections (DCSs) for the state-to-state reaction, H + HD(v_i = 0, j_i = 0, m_i = 0) → H₂(v_f = 0, j_f = 1,2,3, m_f = 1,..,j_f) + D, over the whole range of scattering angles, where v, j, and m are the vibrational, rotational, and helicity quantum numbers for the initial and final states. The analysis extends and complements previous calculations for the same state-to-state reaction, which had j_f = 0,1,2,3 and m_f = 0, as reported by XiahouC.; ConnorJ. N. L.Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.2021, 23, 13349–1336934096934. Motivation comes from the state-of-the-art experiments and simulations of Yuan et al.Nature Chem.2018, 10, 653–65829686377 who have measured, for the first time, fast oscillations in the small-angle region of the degeneracy-averaged DCSs for j_f = 1 and 3 as well as slow oscillations in the large-angle region. We start with the partial wave series (PWS) for the scattering amplitude expanded in a basis set of reduced rotation matrix elements. Then our main theoretical tools are two variants of Nearside-Farside (NF) theory applied to six transitions: (1) We apply unrestricted, restricted, and restrictedΔ NF decompositions to the PWS including resummations. The restricted and restrictedΔ NF DCSs correctly go to zero in the forward and backward directions when m_f > 0, unlike the unrestricted NF DCSs, which incorrectly go to infinity. We also exploit the Local Angular Momentum theory to provide additional insights into the reaction dynamics. Properties of reduced rotation matrix elements of the second kind play an important role in the NF analysis, together with their caustics. (2) We apply an approximate N theory at intermediate and large angles, namely, the Semiclassical Optical Model of Herschbach. We show there are two different reaction mechanisms. The fast oscillations at small angles (sometimes called Fraunhofer diffraction/oscillations) are an NF interference effect. In contrast, the slow oscillations at intermediate and large angles are an N effect, which arise from a direct scattering, and are a “distorted mirror image” mechanism. We also compare these results with the experimental data.

Application of the Partial Wave QP Decomposition to the Angular Scattering of the State-to-State F + H2 Reaction at Etrans = 0.04088 eV

We analyze the physical content of structures present in the product differential cross sections (DCSs) of the benchmark F + H₂(v_i, j_i, m_i) → FH(v_f, j_f, m_f) + H reaction, where v, j, and m are the vibrational, rotational, and helicity quantum numbers, respectively, for the initial and final states. We analyze three state-to-state transitions: 000 → 300, 000 → 310, and 000 → 320. Accurate quantum S matrix elements are employed at a translational energy of 0.04088 eV for the Fu-Xu-Zhang potential energy surface. Our analysis of the DCSs uses a new technique called the QP decomposition; it makes an exact decomposition of the scattering (S) matrix into a Q part and a P part. The P part consists of a partial wave (PW) sum of Regge poles (involving both positions and residues) together with a rapidly oscillating quadratic phase. The Q part of the decomposition is then constructed exactly by subtracting the rapidly oscillating phase and the PW Regge pole sum from the input PW S matrix. In practice, it is convenient to make a small modification, which we call the QmodPmod decomposition. All our calculations use only integer values of the total angular momentum quantum number, namely, J = 0, 1, 2,... We find that the QmodPmod decomposition is successful and physically meaningful, in that the properties of Qmod matrix are simpler than those of the input S matrix. We then carry out a QmodPmod analysis of the DCSs, which provides novel insights into interference structures present in the angular scattering. In particular, we find for all three reactions that Regge resonances contribute across the whole angular range of the DCSs, being particularly pronounced at small angles. The techniques of nearside-farside decomposition and local angular momentum analysis for resummed Legendre PW series are also employed to provide additional insights into the angular scattering.

Angular Scattering Dynamics of the CH4 + Cl → CH3 + HCl Reaction Using Nearside-Farside, Local Angular Momentum, and Resummation Theories

The differential cross section (DCS) for the CH4 + Cl → CH3 + HCl reaction is studied at six total energies where all of the species are in their ground states. The scattering (S) matrix elements have been calculated by the rotating line umbrella method for a dual-level ab initio analytic potential energy surface. We make the first application to this reaction of nearside-farside (NF) and local angular momentum (LAM) techniques, including resummation orders (r) of 0, 1, 2, and 3 for the partial-wave series representation of the full scattering amplitude. We find that resummation usually cleans the NF r = 0 DCSs of unphysical oscillations, especially at small angles. This cleaning effect is typically most pronounced when changing from no resummation (r = 0) to r = 1; further resummations from r = 1 to r = 2 and from r = 2 to r = 3 have smaller effects. The NF DCS analyses show that the reaction is N-dominated at sideward and large angles, whereas at small angles there are oscillations caused by NF interference. The NF LAM analysis provides consistent and complementary information, in particular for the total angular momenta that contribute to the reaction at different scattering angles. The NF analyses also provide justification for simpler N-dominant dynamical theories such as the semiclassical optical model, which provides an explanation for the distorted mirror image effect for the moduli of the S matrix elements and the DCSs, as well as the use of a hard-sphere DCS over limited angular ranges.

The 6Hankel asymptotic approximation for the uniform description of rainbows and glories in the angular scattering of state-to-state chemical reactions: derivation, properties and applications

The 6Hankel approximation agrees very closely with a partial wave series calculation for the forward angular scattering.