Some formal results in the quantum theory of molecular scattering

Abstract

The two‐potential formula for the transition matrix was employed to generalize some results in the formal theory of molecular scattering which were previously derived from R ‐matrix theory. Most important, the quantum mechanical analog of Wigner's classical expression for an upper bound to the rate constant of a chemical reaction was generalized to apply to a reaction with any number of product molecules. In addition to removing the restriction inherent in R ‐matrix theory, that only two entities emerge from the collision, the generalized results are free of difficulties connected with choices, necessary in R ‐matrix theory, of internal and external regions, boundary conditions, and external wavefunctions.