Role of three-body correlations in recombination of spin-polarized atomic hydrogen

We present results of a calculation of the volume rate constant Lgeff of dipole recombination in H¿?, in which the bbb incoming state is determined exactly by means of the Faddeev formalism. Inclusion of all three-particle correlations in the initial state does not resolve the discrepancies between Kagan’s approach and experiment. As a first step towards an exact determination of the outgoing atom-molecule state, we present a calculation in which all three-particle collision aspects are taken into account, except for rearrangement. This leads to values for Lgeff, which are a factor of 5 smaller than experiment, while the B dependence of the rate constant still shows a slowly increasing behavior. On the basis of this state-of-the-art calculation, we thus localize the cause for the existing discrepancies in rearrangement processes.