https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-025-00997-w
Regular Article - Atomic Physics
Primordial three-body recombination in the early Universe involving an electron and two protons
1
Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, Tbilisi State University, Chavchavadze Avenue 3, 0179, Tbilisi, Georgia
2
School of Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Kostava Str. 77a, 0171, Tbilisi, Georgia
Received:
11
January
2025
Accepted:
1
April
2025
Published online:
12
May
2025
The rate of hydrogen molecular ion formation through the combination of an electron with two neighboring protons in the recombination stage of the Universe’s evolution has been estimated. Our approach employs the Thompson recombination scheme, in which an electron combines with a single proton under the influence of the electric field of the nearest neighboring proton. The calculations indicate that the reaction coefficient—and consequently, the rate of three-body recombination—is several orders of magnitude higher than previously assumed. It is demonstrated that the rate of three-body recombination is highly sensitive to the degree of excitation of the hydrogen molecular ion, increasing significantly as the excitation level rises.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
