Quasibound states of tetrahedral quantum structures

Chemical reaction dynamics is known to be influenced by quasibound states (unstable electron standing waves) that exist in the positive-energy continuum in the spatial neighborhood of molecules. These unstable spatial structures give rise to resonances in the scattering dynamics between molecules or between electrons and molecules. Here we analyze the quasibound states associated with both an attractive and a repulsive molecule-size tetrahedral structure by using Wigner-Eisenbud R-matrix theory. Our results indicate that quasibound states typically exist in the neighborhood of all small molecules and other small quantum objects.