A TIME-DEPENDENT FORMULATION OF THE SCATTERING MATRIX FOR THE COLLINEAR REACTION H+H-2(UPSILON)-]H-2(UPSILON')+H

Scattering matrix elements for the collinear reaction H+H-2(upsilon)-->H-2(upsilon')+H are computed using a new time-dependent method based on the Moller operator formulation of scattering theory. Reaction dynamics are determined by the LSTH potential energy surface where attention is focused on two asymptotic wave packets. One wave packet is prepared in a single reactant channel and propagated forward in time while the other wave packet is prepared in a single product channel and propagated backward in time. The time correlation function between reactant and product wave packets is used to determine the S-matrix element between the corresponding reactant and product channels.