The role of the Jahn-Teller coupling in dissociative recombination of H3O+ and H ions

Abstract

We discuss the importance of the non Born-Oppenheimer Jahn-Teller coupling in the dissociative recombination of H3O+ and H ions with low energy electrons. The coupling is known to be important for dissociative recombination of H, for which detailed and simplified theoretical models have been previously developed. In this study we discuss how the detailed theoretical model reproduces individual resonances in the experimental spectrum of H. We present a simplified theoretical model of the dissociative recombination of H3O+. Similarly to H, we consider the Jahn-Teller coupling as a key factor responsible for the capture of the electron into a Rydberg state associated with excited vibrational levels of the ion. We use a simplified Jahn-Teller model for highly symmetrical ions (not only for H3O+ and H) and adopt the normal mode approximation for the vibrational states of H3O+. Using the multi-channel quantum defect formalism and accurate ab initio calculations, we derive the cross sections for electron capture by the ion that is initially in the ground vibrational level. In our approximation, once the electron is captured by the ion, the autoionization probability is neglected compared to the predissociation probability. This allows us to evaluate the cross section for the dissociative recombination of H3O+ using just a few parameters obtained from ab initio calculation. The total cross section obtained is in good agreement with data from storage ring experiments.