Regular Article

Dissociative electron attachment to MgCN^⋆

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
² Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Center, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

^a e-mail: aeorel@ucdavis.edu

Received: 29 October 2019
Received in final form: 18 December 2019
Published online: 28 January 2020

Abstract

Dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to the molecule MgCN and its isomer MgNC has been proposed as a possible source of CN⁻ in the interstellar media. We have carried out electron scattering calculations using the complex Kohn Variational Method as a function of the internal degrees of freedom of the molecule to obtain the resonance energy surfaces and autoionization widths. We use these data as input to form the Hamiltonian relevant to the nuclear dynamics. The multidimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved using the MultiConfiguration Time-Dependent Hartree (MCTDH) approach. We compute the DEA cross sections and discuss the implications for CN⁻ formation in circumstellar envelopes.