Resonant spectra of multipole-bound anions

Abstract

In multipole-bound anions, the excess electron is attached by a short-range multipole potential of a neutral molecule. Such anions are prototypical marginally-bound open quantum systems. In particular, around the critical multipole moment required to attach the valence electron, multipole-bound anions exhibit critical behavior associated with a transition from bound states dominated by low-$\ell$ partial waves to the electron continuum. In this work, multipole-bound anions are described using a nonadiabatic electron-plus-rotor model. The electron-molecule pseudo-potential is represented by a short-range multipole field with a Gaussian form-factor. The resulting coupled-channel Schr\"odinger equation is solved by means of the Berggren expansion method, in which the electron's wave function is decomposed into bound states, narrow resonances, and the non-resonant scattering continuum. We show that the Gaussian model predicts the critical transition at the detachment threshold. Resonant states, including bound states, decaying resonances, subthreshold resonances, and antibound states are studied, and exceptional points where two resonant states coalesce are predicted. We discuss the transition of rotational band structures around the threshold and study the effects of channel coupling on the decay width of resonant poles.