Mutual neutralization in collisions of Li+ with CN−

Abstract

The mutual neutralization reaction in collisions of Li⁺ with CN⁻ is a promising candidate for rigorous multi-dimensional ab initio studies of atom-molecule charge transfer processes. The reaction is driven by the non-adiabatic interaction between the lowest two ¹A′ electronic states at large Li–CN distances, resulting in a large cross section for mutual neutralization. As a first step, the relevant adiabatic potential energy surfaces and non-adiabatic interaction are computed ab initio, and the process is studied quantum mechanically using the vibrational sudden approximation, where the vibrational and rotational motions of the CN molecule are assumed to be frozen during the collision.