Contribution to the Theory of Fast Reaction Rates

Abstract

Classical calculations of the motion of a mass point on a potential surface are carried out. The surface corresponds to a reaction of the type AB+A=A+BA and is characterized by a single saddle‐point. With reference to the mathematically similar problem of the allowed cone of cosmic radiation, a novel feature of fast chemical kinetics is described: the possibility of a substantial decrease of the transmission coefficient above a certain critical energy of the system. This result does not depend on the analytical expression of the surface chosen in the present work. The generality and some consequences of this phenomenon are discussed.