Solvable Quantum-Mechanical Model of Three-Body Rearrangement Scattering

Abstract

An “exact” quantum‐mechanical calculation of three‐body, colinear rearrangement collisions with certain idealized potentials has been performed. The method used is valid for collisions between particles of arbitrary mass. New results are obtained even in the simplest case, that of a scattering center of infinite mass with no multiparticle interaction potential. Transition probability curves are also presented for an infinite scattering center with a finite potential barrier, for collisions of particles of equal mass with and without a potential barrier, for an exothermic reaction, and for an example of resonance scattering. Quantum‐mechanical tunneling, the likelihood of rearrangements involving vibrational transitions, and the effect of the relative mass of the scattering center are discussed.