Dissociative Recombination of Molecular Ions with Electrons is a comprehensive collection of refereed papers describing the latest developments in dissociative recombination research. The papers are written by the leading researchers in the field. The topics covered include the use of microwave afterglows, merged beams and storage rings to measure rate coefficients and to identify the products and their yields. The molecules studied range in size from the smallest, H2+, to bovine insulin ions. The theoretical papers cover the important role of Rydberg states and the use of wave packets and quantum defect theory to deduce cross sections, rate constants and quantum yields. Several theoretical and experimental papers address the controversial topic of H3+ dissociative recombination and its importance in the interstellar medium. Dissociative recombination studies of other molecular ions in the interstellar medium and in cometary and planetary atmospheres are covered. Ionization is an important competitive process to dissociative recombination and its competition with predissociation and its role in the reverse process of the association of neutral species is presented. Dissociative attachment, in which an electron attaches to a neutral molecule, has many similarities to dissociative recombination. The topics covered include the accurate calculation of electron affinities, attachment to molecules, clusters, and to species absorbed on solid surfaces and electron scattering by a molecular anion.

Proceedings of a NATO ARW held in Saint Jacut de la Mer, Brittany, France, May 3-8, 1992

A comprehensive textbook and reference for the study of the physics of ionized gases The intent of this book is to provide deep physical insight into the behavior of gases containing atoms and molecules from which one or more electrons have been ionized. The study of these so-called plasmas begins with an overview of plasmas as they are found in nature and created in the laboratory. This serves as a prelude to a comprehensive study of plasmas, beginning with low temperature and "ideal" plasmas and extending to radiation and particle transport phenomena, the response of plasmas to external fields, and an insightful treatment of plasma waves, plasma instabilities, nonlinear phenomena in plasmas, and the study of plasma interactions with surfaces. In all cases, the emphasis is on a clear and unified understanding of the basic physics that underlies all plasma phenomena. Thus, there are chapters on plasma behavior from the viewpoint of atomic and molecular physics, as well as on the macroscopic phenomena involved in physical kinetics of plasmas and the transport of radiation and of charged particles within plasmas. With this grounding in the fundamental physics of plasmas, the notoriously difficult subjects of nonlinear phenomena and of instabilities in plasmas are then treated with comprehensive clarity.

This book is a short outline of the present state of the theory of electron collisions with atomic particles - atoms, molecules and ions. It is addressed to those who by nature of their work need detailed information about the cross sections of various processes of electron collisions with atomic particles: experimentalists working in plasma physics, optics, quantum electronics, atmospheric and space physics, 'etc. Some of the cross sections have been measured. But in many important cases the only source of information is theoretical calcu lation. The numerous theoretical papers dealing with electronic collision processes contain various approximations. The inter relation between them and the level of their accuracy is often diffi cult to understand without a systematic study of the theory of atomic collisions, not to mention that theoretical considerations are necessary for the consistent interpretation of experimental results. The main constituents of the book are: 1. General theory with special emphasis on the topics most impor tant for understanding and discussing electron collisions with atomic particles.

Atomic and Molecular Processes focuses on radiative and collisional processes involving atoms or molecules, including photoionization, elastic and inelastic scattering of electrons, energy loss by slow electrons, excitation, ionization, detachment, charge transfer, elastic scattering, and chemical reactions. The selection first offers information on forbidden and allowed transitions, including forbidden transitions in diatomic molecular spectra; forbidden transitions in crystals; calculations of atomic line strengths; and measurements of atomic transition probabilities. The book also ponders on photoionization processes, photodetachment, and high temperature shock waves. The manuscript elaborates on electronic and ionic recombination, elastic scattering of electrons, and the motions of slow electrons in gases. The book also evaluates the theory of excitation and ionization by electron impact; measurement of collisional excitation and ionization cross sections; and spectral line broadening in plasmas. The selection is a dependable reference for readers interested in atomic and molecular processes.

Four years after a first meeting in BADDECK, Canada, on the Physics of Ion-Ion and Electron-Ion collisions, a second Nato Advanced Study Institute, in HAl~/Lesse, Belgium, reexamined the subject which had become almost a new one, in consideration of the many important developments that had occured in the mean time. The developments have been particularly impressive in two areas : the di-electronic recombination of electrons with ions and the collisional processes of mUltiply charged ions. For dielectronic recombination, a major event was the obtainment, in 1983, of the first experimental data. This provided, at last, a non speculative basis for the study of that intricate and subtle process and strongly stimulated the theoretical activities. Multiply charged ions, on the other hand, have become popular, thanks to the development of powerful ion sources. This circumstance, together with a pressing demand from thermonuclear research for ionisation and charge exchange cross sections, has triggered systematic experimental investigations and new theoretical studies, which have contributed to considerably enlarge, over the last five years, our understanding of the collisional processes of multiply charged ions. Dielectronic recombination and multiply charged ions were therefore central points in the programme of the A.S.I. in HAN/Lesse and are given a corresponding emphasis in the present book.