Fully quantum calculations of O2-N2 scattering using a new potential energy surface: Collisional perturbations of the oxygen 118 GHz fine structure line

A proper description of the collisional perturbation of the shapes of molecular resonances is important for remote spectroscopic studies of the terrestrial atmosphere. Of particular relevance are the collisions between the O₂ and N₂ molecules-the two most abundant atmospheric species. In this work, we report a new highly accurate O₂(X³Σ_g ^-)-N₂(X¹Σ_g ⁺) potential energy surface and use it for performing the first quantum scattering calculations addressing line shapes for this system. We use it to model the shape of the 118 GHz fine structure line in O₂ perturbed by collisions with N₂ molecules, a benchmark system for testing our methodology in the case of an active molecule in a spin triplet state. The calculated collisional broadening of the line agrees well with the available experimental data over a wide temperature range relevant for the terrestrial atmosphere. This work constitutes a step toward populating the spectroscopic databases with ab initio line shape parameters for atmospherically relevant systems.

Spectroscopy and Scattering Studies Using Interpolated Ab Initio Potentials

The Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surface (PES) has come a long way since its introduction in the 1920s, both conceptually and in predictive power for practical applications. Nevertheless, nearly 100 years later-despite astonishing advances in computational power-the state-of-the-art first-principles prediction of observables related to spectroscopy and scattering dynamics is surprisingly limited. For example, the water dimer, (H₂O)₂, with only six nuclei and 20 electrons, still presents a formidable challenge for full-dimensional variational calculations of bound states and is considered out of reach for rigorous scattering calculations. The extremely poor scaling of the most rigorous quantum methods is fundamental; however, recent progress in development of approximate methodologies has opened the door to fairly routine high-quality predictions, unthinkable 20 years ago. In this review, in relation to the workflow of spectroscopy and/or scattering studies, we summarize progress and challenges in the component areas of electronic structure calculations, PES fitting, and quantum dynamical calculations.

Collisional excitation of interstellar PN by H2: New interaction potential and scattering calculations

Rotational excitation of interstellar PN molecules induced by collisions with H₂ is investigated. We present the first ab initio four-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) for the PN-H₂ van der Waals system. The PES was obtained using an explicitly correlated coupled cluster approach with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations [CCSD(T)-F12b]. The method of interpolating moving least squares was used to construct an analytical PES from these data. The equilibrium structure of the complex was found to be linear, with H₂ aligned at the N end of the PN molecule, at an intermolecular separation of 4.2 Å. The corresponding well-depth is 224.3 cm^-1. The dissociation energies were found to be 40.19 cm^-1 and 75.05 cm^-1 for complexes of PN with ortho-H₂ and para-H₂, respectively. Integral cross sections for rotational excitation in PN-H₂ collisions were calculated using the new PES and were found to be strongly dependent on the rotational level of the H₂ molecule. These new collisional data will be crucial to improve the estimation of PN abundance in the interstellar medium from observational spectra.

Computational study of the rovibrational spectrum of CO2-N2

The CO2-N2 complex is formed from two key components of Earth's atmosphere, and as such, has received some attention from both experimental and theoretical studies. On the theory side, a potential energy surface (PES) based on high level ab initio data was reported [Nasri et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2015, 142, 174301] and then used in more recently reported rovibrational calculations [Lara-Moreno et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019, 21, 3550]. Accuracy of about 1 percent was achieved for calculated rotational transitions of the ground vibrational state of the complex, compared with previously reported microwave spectra. However, a very recent measurement of the geared bending mode frequency [Barclay et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2020, 153, 014303] recorded a value of 21.4 cm-1, which is wildly different from the corresponding calculated value of 45.9 cm-1. To provide some insight into this discrepancy, we have constructed a new more accurate PES, and used it to perform highly converged variational rovibrational calculations. Our new results yield a value of 21.1 cm-1 for that bending frequency, in close agreement with the experiment. We also obtain significantly improved predicted rotational transitions. Finally, we note that a very shallow well, previously reported as a distinct second isomer, is not found on our new PES, but rather a transition structure is seen in that location.

Computational study of the ro-vibrational spectrum of CO-CO2

An accurate ab initio ground-state intermolecular potential energy surface (PES) was determined for the CO-CO₂ van der Waals dimer. The Lanczos algorithm was used to compute rovibrational energies on this PES. For both the C-in and O-in T-shaped isomers, the fundamental transition frequencies agree well with previous experimental results. We confirm that the in-plane states previously observed are geared states. In addition, we have computed and assigned many other vibrational states. The rotational constants we determine from J = 1 energy levels agree well with their experimental counterparts. Planar and out-of-plane cuts of some of the wavefunctions we compute are quite different, indicating strong coupling between the bend and torsional modes. Because the stable isomers are T-shaped, vibration along the out-of-plane coordinates is very floppy. In CO-CO₂, when the molecule is out-of-plane, interconversion of the isomers is possible, but the barrier height is higher than the in-plane geared barrier height.

Development of a potential energy surface for the O3–Ar system: rovibrational states of the complex

Collisional stabilization is an important step in the process of atmospheric formation of ozone.