English

Chemical pathways in ultracold reactions of SrF molecules

Atomic Physics 2015-05-27 v1 Chemical Physics

Abstract

We present a theoretical investigation of the chemical reaction SrF + SrF \rightarrow products, focusing on reactions at ultralow temperatures. We find that bond swapping, SrF + SrF \rightarrow Sr2_2 + F2_2, is energetically forbidden at these temperatures. Rather, the only energetically allowed reaction is SrF + SrF \rightarrow SrF2_2 + Sr, and even then only singlet states of the SrF2_2 trimer can form. A calculation along a reduced reaction path demonstrates that this abstraction reaction is barrierless, and proceeds by one SrF molecule "handing off" a fluorine atom to the other molecule.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1101.4671,
  title  = {Chemical pathways in ultracold reactions of SrF molecules},
  author = {Edmund R. Meyer and John L. Bohn},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1101.4671},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

Two column format, 7 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to PRA