Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The First Potential Energy Surfaces For The C₆Hˉ-H₂ And C₆Hˉ-He Collisional Systems And Their Corresponding Inelastic Cross Sections, Kyle M. Walker, Fabien Dumouchel, François Lique, Richard Dawes

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Molecular anions have recently been detected in the interstellar and circumstellar media. Accurate modeling of their abundance requires calculations of collisional data with the most abundant species that are usually He atoms and H₂ molecules. In this paper, we focus on the collisional excitation of the first observed molecular anion, C₆H^-, by He and H₂. Theoretical calculations of collisional cross sections rely generally on ab initio interaction potential energy surfaces (PESs). Hence, we present here the first PESs for the C₆H^--H₂ and C₆H^--He van …