Rotational excitation of asymmetric-top molecular ions by electron impact: application to H$_2$O$^+$, HDO$^+$, and D$_2$O$^+$

The rotational excitation of the three asymmetric-top molecular ion isotopologues H$_2$O$^+$, HDO$^+$, and D$_2$O$^+$ is studied theoretically using a combined framework of electron-molecule R-matrix scattering theory, multichannel quantum-defect theory, frame transformation theory, and the Coulomb-Born approximation. The latter two have been adapted here for asymmetric-top rotors. State-resolved cross sections and kinetic rate coefficients for transitions from the rotational ground state of the ions are presented. State-resolved rate coefficients for all calculated transitions $N=0\ldotstwo4$ are included as supplementary material and will be made available through the EMAA database.

Source: arXiv:2603.17923v1 - http://arxiv.org/abs/2603.17923v1 PDF: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2603.17923v1 Original Link: http://arxiv.org/abs/2603.17923v1