Distribution of rovibrational product states for the "prompt" reaction H+D-2(nu=0,j=0-4) -> HD(nu '=1,2,j ')+D near 1.6 eV collision energy

We initiate the reaction H + D-2(v = 0, j = 0-4) -> HD (v ' = 1,2,j ') + D by photolyzing HBr in a 1:9 mixture of HBr and D-2 expanded into vacuum thr ough a pulsed nozzle. The same laser pulse that initiates the reaction also detects the HD(v ', j ') product in a state-specific manner via 2 + 1 REMP I. From the product ion signals we extract HD(v ', j ') state distributions for the v ' = 1,2 manifolds that are compared to existing quasiclassical t rajectory (QCT) calculations at similar energies. We find good agreement be tween calculation and experiment for the distribution of rotational product states within each vibrational manifold. The line of-centers nearly elasti c specular scattering (LOCNESS) model predicts an inverted parabolic distri bution of HD(v ', j ' (red)) products where j ' (red) = j ' /j ' (max), and j ' (max) is the maximum predicted rotational state based on the angle-dep endent reaction barrier of the H-3 potential energy surface and previously measured product scattering angle distributions. Additionally. this model i s shown to hold for previous measurements of H + D-2 at a collision energy of 1.28 eV.