Effects Of Molecular Vibration And Electron Correlation in the Quantum Theory of Dissociative Attachment and the Kinetic Theory of Electron Swarms

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The goals of the project are to find an efficient method for calculating cross sections for dissociative attachment induced by electron impact on molecules and to develop a new kinetic theory for electron plasmas ("swarms") in molecular gases. Both projects seek to answer a common scientific question: what underlying physical mechanisms control the changes in the vibrational dynamics of a molecule that occur when an electron collides with the molecule? The research will investigate the applicability of density functional theory to low-energy collisions of electrons with molecules. The non-adiabatic R-matrix method will be used to treat the electron-nuclear dynamics. The project on kinetic theory of gases will try to resolve a long standing discrepancy between vibrational cross sections measured in beam experiments and those from swarm experiments.