EXCITED ELECTRONIC STATES OF H-3 AND THEIR ROLE IN THE DISSOCIATIVE RECOMBINATION OF H-3+

Accurate calculations of several electronically excited states of H 3 which are important in dissociative recombination of H 3+ are reported. These surfaces allow discussion of the dissociation products. For electron energies above 1 eV the dominant product is expected to be vibrationally excited H2 (X1 Sigma g+)+H(2s or 2p). The threshold for directly producing H- from ground state H3+ is predicted to be 5.8 eV.