REACTIVE MOLECULAR COLLISIONS 2712

The reactive molecular collision is the fundamental microscopic event. that underlies the chemical reaction. The ability to describe this process from a knowledge of forces operating at the molecular level has long been the goal of the theoretical dynamicist. The field of reactive molecular collisions, and fields related to it, have been reviewed frequently within the last five years. For the newcomer, two excellent textbooks on molecular collision dynamics provide a broad background of the subject: the introductory text, Molecular Reaction Dynamics, by Levine & Bernstein (1) and the more comprehensive text by Child (2), Molecular Collision Theory. In addition, there are several volumes whose chapters consist of excellent reviews of specific topics relevant to reactive collisions. The most recent of these, and the most comprehensive to date, is Bernstein’s handbook for the experimentalist, Atom-Molecule Collision Theory [Reference (3), abbreviated here to AMCT]. Every topic we consider in this review is represented by one or more chapters in Bernstein’s book. In addition to Bernstein’s volume, equally excellent review material (although now somewhat older) is contained in two volumes edited by Miller, Dynamics of Molecular Collisions, Part A [Reference (4), abbreviated DMCA], and Part B [Reference (5), abbreviated DMCB].