Theoretical progress and challenges in dissociative recombination

Source abstract

We discuss the Jahn–Teller mechanism for dissociative recombination in low energy collisions between electrons and ions, in energy ranges relevant to the processes underway in interstellar clouds. While theory has become capable of predicting recombination rates in reasonable agreement with storage ring experiments, some discrepancies remain with them, and a long-standing discrepancy with stationary afterglow measurements remains troubling. Speculations about the desirable improvements in both theory and experiment are presented.