The reactive scattering for H- + H2 and H+ + H2 and its isotopologues were investigated using different methods. The studies aimed at providing insights into elementary reactions, and go beyond these to more complexchemical reactions. By comparison of the reaction probabilities of H+ + H2 using adiabatic and non-adiabatic methods, it was found that, at low collision energies, the reaction preferentially occurs adiabatically, but at higher collision energies non-adiabatic effects should be taken into account. For H- + H2 and its isotopologues, we can see that, at low collision energies, the reaction probabilities and reaction cross section using SM-PES and AY-PES are very similar but different from PS-PES. The reaction cross sections investigated with quasi-classical trajectoriesare higher than those calculated with quantum wavepackets. For the collision H- and D- with HD, the main reaction path ways are different with the different collision energies.

The calculation of cross sections and rate constants for chemical reactions in the gas phase has long been a major problem in theoretical chemistry. The need for reliable and applicable theories in this field is evident when one considers the significant recent advances that have been made in developing experimental techniques, such as lasers and molecular beams, to probe the microscopic details of chemical reactions. For example, it is now becoming possible to measure cross sections for chemical reactions state selected in the vibrational rotational states of both reactants and products. Furthermore, in areas such as atmospheric, combustion and interstellar chemistry, there is an urgent need for reliable reaction rate constant data over a range of temperatures, and this information is often difficult to obtain in experiments. The classical trajectory method can be applied routinely to simple reactions, but this approach neglects important quantum mechanical effects such as tunnelling and resonances. For all these reasons, the quantum theory of reactive scattering is an area that has received considerable attention recently. This book describes the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held at CECAM, Orsay, France in June, 1985. The Workshop concentrated on a critical examination and discussion of the recent developments in the theory of chemical reaction dynamics, with particular emphasis on quantum theories. Several papers focus on exact theories for reactions.