Dissociative attachment in hot molecules

Abstract

A theory of resonant dissociative attachment of electrons to hot diatomic gases is presented. The molecule state is approximated by a harmonic well and the negative ion, resonant, state by a line of constant slope and the rate of decay of the resonance is assumed independent of internuclear separation. The transition matrix elements that arise in the course of the calculation are evaluated using different approximations. The results of these approximations are compared with exact results obtained entirely numerically. The theory is used to interpret the experimental results of Fit et al for oxygen and thereby deduce some of the properties of the system O₂+e.