BINDING ENERGIES OF Po AND $Po^{+}$ WITH ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN

Abstract

The interactions between polonium, a decay product of radon, and nitrogen were examined in an ab-initio study. Properties $(R_{***}, D_{r})$ of linear and cyclic $N_{2}Po$ and $N_{2}Po^{+}$ were determined at various levels of theory (HF, MP2, MRCI including spin-orbit coupling). The geometric arrangements with the lowest energies were found to be linear for both the neutral molecule and the positive ion. Binding energies in both species were determined to be approximately 0.1 eV.