A transition state resonance radically reshapes angular distributions of the F + H2 -> F H(vf = 3) + H reaction in the 62-101 meV energy range

Abstract

Reactive angular distributions of the benchmark F + H2(vi = 0) -> F H(vf = 3) + H reaction show unusual propensity towards small scattering angles, a subject of a long debate in the literature. We use Regge trajectories to quantify the resonance contributions to state-to-state differential cross sections. Conversion to complex energy poles allows us to attribute the effect almost exclusively to a transition state resonance, long known to exist in the F +H2 system and its isotopic variant F +HD. For our detailed analysis of angular scattering we employ the package DCS Regge, recently developed for the purpose [Comp. Phys. Comm., 2022, 277, 108370.]