title: Predicting the stability of atom-like and molecule-like unit-charge Coulomb three-particle systems.
abstract: Non-relativistic quantum chemical calculations of the particle mass, m±2, corresponding to the dissociation threshold in a range of Coulomb three-particle systems of the form m±1m±2m±3, are performed variationally using a series solution method with a Laguerre-based wavefunction. These masses are used to calculate an accurate stability boundary, i.e., the line that separates the stability domain from the instability domains, in a reciprocal mass fraction ternary diagram. This result is compared to a lower bound to the stability domain derived from symmetric systems and reveals the importance of the asymmetric (mass-symmetry breaking) terms in the Hamiltonian at dissociation. A functional fit to the stability boundary data provides a simple analytical expression for calculating the minimum mass of a third particle required for stable binding to a two-particle system, i.e., for predicting the bound state stability of any unit-charge three-particle system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Patrick E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Herlihy
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Hazel
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cox