Theory of surface spin-exchange recombination of spin-polarized hydrogen

Calculations of the two-atom surface recombination rate for spinpolarized atomic hydrogen are carried out. Both the plane-wave Born approximation (PWBA) and the-dimensional distorted-wave model are employed. The field dependence forB=4 to 10 Tesla, and the temperature dependence for 0.2<T<1 K are examined for systems initially consisting of equal numbers ofa- andb-state atoms. The rates are analyzed with respect to para- and ortho-H₂ production, and to recombination to various vibrational and rotational states of H₂. The PWBA gives reasonable agreement with experiment with respect to the field-dependence and ortho-para production, but predicts an overall rate a factor of 40 above experiment. The-dimensional model underestimates the rate by a factor of 10³ and yields poorer agreement with experiment than the PWBA for the field-dependence and ortho-para production ratio. These results point out the need for a proper many-body treatment.