Multichannel dissociative recombination theory

Abstract

A theoretical multichannel treatment of dissociative recombination is presented, with application to $e$+N${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ recombination. The conventional "indirect" and "direct" dissociative recombinations are treated together on the same footing. The physically meaningful eigenchannel parameters in the multichannel theory, for the NO system, are here determined by fitting to a wealth of spectroscopic data. The results are then compared with some previous theoretical predictions as well as recent experimental data, and a possible reconcilement is suggested for the discrepancy in the ($e+\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{O}}^{+}$) recombination rates given by afterglow and stored-ion measurements.