OBSERVATIONS OF ARRHENIUS BEHAVIOR OVER 56 DECADES - DISSOCIATION OF N-4(+) IONS

Rate coefficients for the dissociation of N4+ in collisions with heliu m have been measured in a drift tube experiment as dependent on the me an center-of-mass energy E(b) from 0. 12 to 0.23 eV. For the temperatu re range from 80 to 500 K, the rate coefficients for the same process have been calculated from earlier data on the reverse, three-body asso ciation process. The rate coefficients obtained cover a regime of 56 o rders of magnitude, from k2 = 7.5 x 10(-12) cm3 s-1 at 0.23 eV E(b) to k2 = 2.3 x 10(-68) cm3 s-1 at 80 K, yielding an Arrhenius activation energy E(a) = 0.83 +/- 0.05 eV.