Adiabatic and diabatic invariants in ion-molecule reactions

Abstract

A point charge interacting with a dipole (either induced or permanent) constitutes a completely integrable dynamical subsystem characterized by three first integrals of the motion (E, p(phi), and either l(2) or a Hamilton-Jacobi separation constant beta). An ion-molecule reaction (capture or fragmentation) can be seen as an interaction between such a subsystem and a bath of oscillators. This interaction is a perturbation that destroys some of the first integrals. However, the perturbation depends on the separation between the fragments and the destruction is gradual. The mathematical simplicity of the long-range electrostatic interaction potential leads to useful simplifications. A first-order perturbation treatment based on the structured and regular nature of the multipole expansion is presented. The separating integrals valid in the asymptotic limit are found to subsist at intermediate distances, although in a weaker form. As the reaction coordinate decreases, i.e., as the fragments approach, the asymptotic range is followed by an outer region where (i) the azimuthal momentum p(phi) remains a constant of the motion; (ii) the square angular momentum l(2) or the separation constant beta transform into a diabatic invariant in regions of phase space characterized by a high value of the translational momentum p(r); (iii) for low values of p(r), it is advantageous to use the action integral contour integral(p(theta)d theta), which is an adiabatic invariant. The conditions under which an effective potential obtained by adding centrifugal repulsion to an electrostatic attractive term can be validly constructed are specified. In short, the dynamics of ion-molecule interactions is still regular in parts of phase space corresponding to a range of the reaction coordinate where the interaction potential deviates from its asymptotic shape.