Two- and three-body kinematical correlation in the dissociative recombination of H3+

Fragmentation patterns for dissociative recombination of the triatomic hydrogen molecular ion H-3(+) in the vibrational ground state have been measured using the storage ring technique and molecular fragment imaging. A broad distribution of vibrational states in the H-2 fragment after two-body dissociation and a large predominance of nearly linear momentum geometries after three-body dissociation are found. The fragmentation results are directly contrasted with Coulomb explosion imaging data on the initial H-3(+) geometry, compared to existing wave-packet calculations, and considered in the light of a simple physical picture.