Threshold resonance effects in reactive processes

Abstract

We investigate the effect of near threshold resonances in reactive scattering at low energy. We find a general type of anomalous behavior of the cross sections, and illustrate it with a real system (H$_2$ + Cl). For inelastic processes, the anomalous energy dependence of the total cross sections is given by $\sigma\sim\varepsilon^{-3/2}$. The standard threshold behavior given by Wigner's law ($\sigma\sim\varepsilon^{-1/2}$) is eventually recovered at vanishing energies, but its validity is now limited to a much narrower range of energies. The universal anomalous behavior leads to reaction rate coefficients behaving as $K\sim 1/T$ at low temperatures, instead of the expected constant rate of the Wigner regime. We also provide analytical expressions for s-wave cross sections, and discuss the implication in ultracold physics and chemistry.