What is it about?
When three free atoms collide, two can bond to form a molecule while the third bounces away. This third atom plays an essential role by absorbing the energy released during the molecule's formation. For decades, chemical physicists have believed this three-body recombination reaction occurs in two discrete steps. Our work shows that this isn't the case, demonstrating that the entire process can happen in a single, direct three-body collision.
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Why is it important?
From cold labs to hot interstellar clouds, three-body recombination is a fundamental process across the universe. While our current understanding of this reaction relies heavily on halogen research from the 20th century, those early conclusions led to a long-standing misconception about how these atoms actually interact. By revisiting these foundational experiments, our work provides a more accurate alternative: a single-step, direct three-body recombination.
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This page is a summary of: Direct three-body atom recombination: Halogen atoms, The Journal of Chemical Physics, July 2025, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0275410.
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