Time-dependent wave-packet description of dissociative electron attachment

A time-dependent description of the dissociative-attachment process is formulated within the framework of the projection-operator formalism of scattering theory. A generally applicable computational scheme for the solution of the resulting integro-differential equation of motion is developed. The concepts and computational techniques are illustrated for a model of a d-wave shape resonance as well as for the p-wave u+2 shape resonance in electron-H2 collisions. It is shown that the time-dependent wave-packet picture yields qualitative insight into the dynamics of the dissociative-attachment reaction. The origin of the complete failure of the local-complex-potential approximation for the u+2 resonance in e+H2 becomes apparent in the time-dependent picture.