Recent Advances in the Study of Negative‐Ion Resonances Using Multiconfigurational Propagator and a Complex Absorbing Potential

Abstract

The transient resonances are a challenge to bound state quantum mechanics. These states lie in the continuum part of the spectrum of the Hamiltonian. For this, one has to treat a continuum problem due to electron‐molecule scattering and the many‐electron correlation problem simultaneously. Moreover, the description of a resonance requires a wavefunction that bridges the part that resembles a bound state with another that resembles a continuum state such that the continuity of the wavefunction and its first derivative with respect to the distance between the incoming projectile and the target is maintained. A review of the recent advances in the theoretical investigation of the negative‐ion resonances (NIR) is presented. The NIRs are ubiquitous in nature. They result from the scattering of electrons off of an atomic or molecular target. They are important for numerous chemical processes in upper atmosphere, space and even biological systems. A contextual background of the existing theoretical methods as well as the newly‐developed multiconfigurational propagator tools based on a complex absorbing potential are discussed.