Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 21, 2401009 (2026)

Regular Articles

Mapping Rydberg States of H2 with the Halfium R-Matrix Method
Rawand MEZLINI1,2), Soumaya BEZZAOUIA1), David HVIZDOS2), Chris. H. GREENE3), Christian JUNGEN4), Ioan F. SCHNEIDER2), Mourad TELMINI1)
1)
LSAMA, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, 2092 Tunis, Tunisia
2)
LOMC, UMR 6294 CNRS and Université Le Havre Normandie, 25 rue Philippe Lebon, BP 540, 76058 Le Havre, France
3)
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
4)
LAC CNRS-FRE2038, Université Paris-Saclay, ENS Cachan, Campus d’Orsay, Bat. 505, 91405 Orsay, France
(Received 28 August 2025 / Accepted 6 November 2025 / Published 31 March 2026)

Abstract

In this paper, we use the Halfium R-matrix method to investigate the Rydberg states of the H2 molecule up to n = 20, filling the gap above the low-lying bound states already calculated with configuration interaction packages. Moreover, we show that the use of Quantum Defect Theory scaling laws, allows for a comprehensive analysis of the regular patterns resulting from the coupling between Rydberg series and doubly excited states. The results should open the door for more efficient quasi-diabatization of the potential energy curves which is required for calculating cross sections and rate coefficients of the (e + H2+) collisional processes, involved in the plasma modeling for fusion devices.

Keywords

Rydberg states, Halfium R-matrix method, spectroscopy, dissociative recombination, molecular hydrogen, quantum defect theory, electron-molecule collisions, divertor region

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.21.2401009

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