On the geometric phase effect on tetra-atomic reactions:: the OH+H2→H2O+H reaction

The geometric phase effect on chemical reactions is investigated for a tetra-atomic reaction using classical mechanics and recently developed row-orthonormal hyperspherical coordinates. The quantum vector potential responsible for the proper handling of the phase of the nuclear wavefunction is incorporated in the classical trajectory equations. This provides a simple estimate of the importance of the geometric phase for reaction cross-sections. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.