Low-energy dissociative recombination of OH+

Abstract

Dissociative recombination of the OH+ ion with free electrons is modeled theoretically using a recently developed approach that is based on first-principles calculations and multichannel quantum defect theory. The coupling between the incident electron and the rovibrational motion of the ion is accounted for. The cross section of the process at collision energies 10−6–1 eV and the thermally averaged rate coefficient at 10–1000 K are evaluated. The obtained anisotropic rate coefficients agree well with the data from a recent experiment carried out at the Cryogenic Storage Ring, especially when compared to previous theoretical values, which are smaller than the experimental results by about a factor of about 30.