Investigation of the O++H2 → OH++H reaction by quantum mechanical approach in the ionosphere

In this PhD thesis, the effects and variations of the reaction dynamics and processes of the reactive reaction between O+ ion and H2 molecule were investigated in the ionospheric plasma where the collisions are generally neglected. Reaction dynamics for 'O+ + H2 → OH+ + H' reactive reaction and gas kinetic theory model results were calculated based on ionospheric temperature, height and density variables. The parameters used in the calculations were obtained for the coordinates of 39∘N, 40∘E, the solstice and equinox days of 2009 and local time 12.00. The reaction dynamics such as collision energies, total collision cross sections and reaction rate constant of the 'O+ + H2 → OH+ + H' reaction showed a decrease with increasing ionospheric temperature and height. It has been observed that the probability of realization of the reaction decreases as rises towards from lower to upper heights of the ionosphere. Although there is no interaction between the reaction dynamics and the densities of the colliding particles according to quantum mechanical view, it is possible to say the existence of an effect from the results obtained this study. It has been determined that the values of potential threshold energy calculated by classical calculation methods are smaller than the collision energy calculated by the quantum mechanical method and the consistency of quantum mechanical results with classical calculations has been demonstrated. It was found that the potential threshold energy is inversely proportional to the reaction dynamics and is directly proportionally to the ionospheric temperature, whereas there is no direct relationship with particle densities. The collision frequency decreases inversely proportion with the increasing ionospheric temperature and height. The minimum value of the average free path was reached in September and the maximum value in December. The total number of collisions has been changed directly proportional to both quantum mechanical dynamics and particle densities. The greatest value of the total number of collisions was found in June and the smallest value in December. Keywords: Ionosphere, Reactive Collision, Reaction Dynamics, Quantum Mechanical Calculation