Plane wave packet study of direct and time-delayed mechanisms in the F + HD reaction

The recently developed plane wave packet method is applied to the F + HD reaction on the Stark–Werner potential surface, yielding converged differential cross-sections (d.c.s.) over the collision energy range E=0–0.15 eV. A wave packet ‘movie’ is obtained showing how the HF product scatters into space. Two direct and two time-delayed mechanisms are observed. One of the latter corresponds to a recently observed Feshbach resonance. The movie is related to the energy-dependent d.c.s. by a time-dependent d.c.s., which reveals quantum interference between the direct and time-delayed mechanisms.