Angular momentum polarization of the molecules in the Li + HF reaction

A theoretical analysis of the orientation and alignment of the rotational angular momenta of the reactants and products of the Li + HF(v _r = 0, j _r = 3) → LiF(v, j) + H reaction at a collision energy of E _coll = 0.317 eV is performed. The polarization of the angular momentum of the molecules involved in the reaction is based on the technique of spherical tensor operators (state multipoles). Quantum-mechanical calculations of the S-matrix of the reaction are carried out using the wave packet method. In particular, the influence of the orientation of the angular momentum of the HF reactant on the differential cross section is examined. It is shown that the contribution to the differential cross section comes only from be reactants with an angular momentum perpendicular to the reaction plane. In addition, the angular dependence of the orientation and alignment of the angular momenta of the reaction products are examined. It is shown that, for an isotropic distribution of reactant molecules, the orientation of the angular momenta of the products differs from zero only in the direction perpendicular to the reaction plane. Different experimental geometries, based on radiation enhanced multiphoton ionization, are proposed to detect the predicted effects.