COMPUTATION OF CROSS-SECTIONS FOR THE F+H2(V=0,J=0)-]FH(V'J)+H REACTION BY THE HYPERSPHERICAL METHOD

A quantum mechanical calculation of cross sections for the reaction F + H2(upsilon = 0,j = 0) --> FH(upsilon'J') + H has been performed on the T5A semi-empirical potential surface using hyperspherical coordinates. State-to-state integral and differential cross sections converge rapidly with the number of components of the total angular momentum projection onto the axis of least inertia. The upsilon' = 3 differential cross section has a forward peak whose magnitude increases with energy whereas the upsilon' = 2 differential cross section has a backward maximum, in qualitative agreement with cross-beam experiments. The upsilon' = 2 and upsilon' = 3 rotational distributions are in rather good agreement with experiment, but not the vibrational branching ratios.