Importance of nonresonant scattering in low-energy dissociative electron attachment to molecular hydrogen

A central premise of nearly all theories of dissociative electron attachment is that this process is resonance driven. Neglect of nonresonant scattering, although appropriate for electron-molecule systems with narrow (long-lived) resonances, is problematic for the e-H2 system, which has one of the broadest known resonances. Using the nonadiabatic phase-matrix method we have found that at energies from threshold to 6 eV contributions from nonresonant scattering to cross sections to dissociative attachment to in its ground vibrational and electronic state exceed 60%. Comparison of theoretical and experimental cross sections argue strongly for further efforts to resolve the considerable remaining discrepancies over this most elementary rearrangement process.