arXiv:2511.00325v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We calculate the recombination rates into quantum bound channels across a series of ion-atom scattering lengths. Our results confirms the breakdown of the theory of ‘van-der-Waals universality’ and the effective range theory, both of which fail to describe the recombination rates in ion-atom systems for large scattering lengths. We investigate this phenomenon further — through calculations we observe the appearance of weakly bound ionic triatomic molecules. We compare the spectrum and lifetimes of these trimers to neutral system and present results indicating that such trimers could be stable with respect to modern experiments.