Effective rate coefficients for molecular processes of hydrogen and hydrocarbons in edge plasmas

Effective rate coefficients for molecular processes in edge plasmas are calculated in a wide parameter range of electron densities and temperatures on the basis of the latest available cross-sections and rate coefficients for the individual reactions. In case of hydrogen molecules and the isotopomeres a vibrationally resolved molecular database with Franck-Condon factors, transition probabilities and radiative lifetimes are generated. An improved collisional radiative model for molecular and atomic hydrogen is introduced and used to calculate effective rate coefficients with and without taking into account vibrational population in the ground state of the molecule. In case of hydrocarbons, a flexible dissociation model is constructed to obtain effective rate coefficients and particle densities for different dissociation chains. (author)