On nascent angular-momentum distributions in complex-forming bimolecular reactions

A detailed modelling of a complex-forming bimolecular reaction requires the knowledge of the nascent energy and angular-momentum distribution of the intermediate complex. A method is presented to calculate the distribution of the orbital angular momenta as a result of reactive collisions in a radial potential. For the case of thermal collisions, analytical solutions are obtained. Reactions of photochemically generated species are also considered. The method is applied to the reaction of CH4 with O-2(+) and O(D-1), respectively.