Towards quantum mechanical description of the unconventional mass-dependent isotope effect in ozone: resonance recombination in the strong collision approximation

The dependence of ozone recombination rate on the masses of oxygen isotopes is examined in the strong collision approximation by means of quantum mechanical calculations of resonance spectra of several rotating isotopomers. The measured DeltaZPE effect and its temperature dependence can be reconstructed from partial widths of narrow nonoverlapping resonances. The effect is attributed to substantial contributions of highly rotationally excited states to recombination.