Charge exchange and fine-structure excitation in O-H+collisions

Abstract

The charge exchange reaction O+H⁺ to O⁺+H is reinvestigated after a detailed examination of the interatomic potential curves and the couplings responsible for the process. The long-range behaviour and the problem of the connection between the long-range and the short-range potentials are considered. The charge exchange collision is then treated in a close-coupling formalism and we take account of the fine-structure excitation process which can occur simultaneously. The results are in accordance with the experimental measurements of Fehsenfeld and Ferguson (1972) and are much smaller than the previous theoretical estimates.