26th Australian Institute of Physics Congress and the Australian and New Zealand Conference on Optics and Photonics

Session

AIP ATMOP: Collisions, Molecules, Chemical Physics

ATMOP

7 Dec 2026, 15:45

Belinda Hutchinson Building (The University of Sydney )

39. Ab Initio Reaction Mechanisms and Low-Temperature Kinetics for the Formation of HCSCN and HCSCCH in Interstellar Sulphur Chemistry

Bouthéïna KERKENI (ESILV, Pôle Paris La Défense. De Vinci Higher Education, Paris France)

07/12/2026, 15:45

AIP | Atomic and Molecular Physics (ATMOP)

Contributed Oral

Recent astronomical detections of sulphur-bearing carbon-chain molecules, including HCSCN and HCSCCH, in cold interstellar environments have renewed interest in the gas-phase chemistry responsible for their formation. Despite their astrophysical relevance, the underlying reaction mechanisms and product branching remain poorly constrained, limiting the reliability of chemical models of sulphur...

149. Vibrationally resolved cross sections for proton collisions with hydrogen molecules

Dr Corey Plowman (Curtin University)

07/12/2026, 16:00

AIP | Atomic and Molecular Physics (ATMOP)

Contributed Oral

The semi-classical molecular convergent close-coupling (SC-MCCC) approach has been applied to proton collisions with molecular hydrogen in the ground electronic and vibrational state. Cross sections for electron loss and electron capture agree well with the experimental data in the intermediate energy range where coupling between electronic reaction channels is strong and previously available...

221. A general approach to calculating ion collisions with light atoms, application to proton-oxygen scattering

Kyna Schrick

07/12/2026, 16:15

AIP | Atomic and Molecular Physics (ATMOP)

Contributed Oral

Collisions between ions and atoms are found in a wide range of environments, including planetary atmospheres, fusion plasmas, and hadron therapy for cancer treatment. To model and analyse these environments, accurate cross sections are required for a range of atomic processes, including ionisation and excitation. Calculating these cross sections is particularly challenging for collisions with...

355. A mechanistic analysis of magnetic field effects in ATP synthesis

Anjay Manian (The University of Wollongong)

07/12/2026, 16:30

AIP | Atomic and Molecular Physics (ATMOP)

Contributed Oral

Magnetic field effects (MFEs) and magnetic isotope effects (MIEs) have been proposed as potential modulator of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis via a transient spin dependent intermediate due to coupling between adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and a free ion. The hypothesis originally advanced by Buchachenko et al.[1] has motivated significant theoretical and experimental interest;...

367. A Tunable Blue-Detuned Optical Ring Trap for Fast Compression of Ultracold Metastable Helium-4

Shijie Li (The Australian National University)

07/12/2026, 16:45

AIP | Atomic and Molecular Physics (ATMOP)

Contributed Oral

Achieving Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of metastable helium-4 (⁴He*) requires tight final confinement to raise phase-space density during evaporation. This is commonly supplied by bi-planar quadrupole-Ioffe or quadrupole-Ioffe magnetic traps, but their coils restrict optical access for flexible beam geometries [1-3]. A tunable blue-detuned optical box or semi-box with weak magnetic...

449. Surface-Selective Adsorption ofThiophene–Pyridine–Oxadiazole Corrosion Inhibitors on Fe Surfaces: A DFT Investigation

Prof. Feng Wang (Swinburne University of Technology)

07/12/2026, 17:00

AIP | Atomic and Molecular Physics (ATMOP)

Contributed Oral

Organic heterocyclic inhibitors reduce iron corrosion primarily through adsorption at the metal interface; however, the influence of molecular isomerism on adsorption selectivity across different Fe surfaces remains insufficiently understood. In this work,
density functional theory (DFT) calculations are employed to investigate the adsorption behaviour of two...