Theoretical study of mutual neutralisation in H⁺-H⁻collisions at low energy (0.02-20 eV)

The theoretical total cross section for mutual neutralisation in H + +H - collisions at low energy (0.02-20 eV) is calculated using a quantum close-coupling treatment. The present work extends the previous study of Sidis et al. (1981-3) towards low energies. The total cross section is found to disagree with the experimental result of Moseley et al. (1970) by a factor of about three but agrees with the recent experimental data of Szucs et al. (1984). In addition general good agreement is obtained with the Landau-Zener total cross section of Bates and Lewis in the energy range considered.