Temperature, Pressure & Solvent Dependence of Positronium Acceptor Reactions

Abstract

Positronium (Ps) reaction rates (k) with weak Acceptors (Ac) leading to the formation of Ps-Ac Complexes show several intriguing features: non-monotonic temperature dependence of k (departing from the usual Arrhenius paradigm), considerable variablity of k with respect to different solvents, and anomalies in response to external pressure at ambient temperature (large changes of k in some media and hardly any in others). We explain all these phenomena, through the introduction of the novel concept of a critical surface tension, which unifies observations in diverse non-polar solvents at different temperatures and pressures.