Vibrational relaxation of CO in ultracold 3He collisions

Quenching of rotationally excited CO by collisions with H2

Quantum close-coupling and coupled-states approximation scattering calculations of rotational energy transfer in CO due to collisions with H2 are presented for collision energies between 10(-6) and 15,000 cm(-1) using the H2-CO interaction potentials of Jankowski and Szalewicz [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 104301 (2005); 108, 3554 (1998)]. State-to-state cross sections and rate coefficients are reported for the quenching of CO initially in rotational levels j2 = 1-3 by collisions with both para- and ortho-H2. Comparison with the available theoretical and experimental results shows good agreement, but some discrepancies with previous calculations using the earlier potential remain. Interestingly, elastic and inelastic cross sections for the quenching of CO (j2 = 1) by para-H2 reveal significant differences at low collision energies. The differences in the well depths of the van der Waals interactions of the two potential surfaces lead to different resonance structures in the cross sections. In particular, the presence of a near-zero-energy resonance for the earlier potential which has a deeper van der Waals well yields elastic and inelastic cross sections that are about a factor of 5 larger than that for the newer potential at collision energies lower than 10(-3) cm(-1).

Close-coupling study of rotational energy transfer of CO (υ=2) by collisions with He atoms

Quantum close-coupling scattering calculations of rotational energy transfer in the vibrationally excited CO due to collisions with He atom are presented for collision energies between 10(-5) and approximately 1000 cm-1 with CO being initially in the vibrational level upsilon=2 and rotational levels j=0,1,4, and 6. The He-CO interaction potential of Heijmen et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 107, 9921 (1997)] was adopted for the calculations. Cross sections for rovibrational transitions and state-to-state rotational energy transfer from selected initial rotational levels were computed and compared with recent measurements of Carty et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 121, 4671 (2004)] and available theoretical results. Comparison in all cases is found to be excellent, providing a stringent test for the scattering calculations as well as the reliability of the He-CO interaction potential by Heijmen et al.

A close-coupling study of vibrational-rotational quenching of CO by collision with hydrogen atoms

Quantum-mechanical scattering calculations were performed for the rovibrational relaxation of CO in collisions with H atoms using the close-coupling approach for collision energies between 10(-6) and 1500 cm(-1). We adopted the H-CO interaction potential of Werner, Keller, and Schinke and computed the state-to-state and total cross sections for the quenching of the upsilon=1, j=0-2 levels of CO. Numerous resonances, as a consequence of the van der Waals potential, are observed and the cross sections are found to approach the Wigner limit at low energies. Also, by averaging the cross sections over a Boltzmann distribution of velocities of the incoming atom, quenching rate coefficients are obtained and found to be consistent with previous infinite-order sudden approximation calculations for temperatures between 100 and 300 K.

Quantum mechanical investigation of rovibrational relaxation of H2 and D2 by collisions with Ar atoms

We report quantum mechanical calculations of cross sections and rate coefficients for rovibrational relaxation of H2 and D2 by collisions with Ar atoms over a wide range of temperatures including the ultracold limit. Limiting values of the rate coefficients for vibrational and rotational quenching at zero temperature were computed and sensitivity of the results to the choice of the interaction potential is investigated. We also demonstrate dramatic change in the behavior of the rate coefficients at low temperatures when the van der Waals potential supports a quasibound level very close to the dissociation threshold.

Rotational quenching in ionic systems at ultracold temperatures

The behavior of the rotational quenching for a molecular ion in collision with closed-shell neutral gases is investigated. We confirm that Wigner's threshold law for inelastic scattering holds in the presence of a long-range interaction due to polarization forces decreasing as the inverse fourth power of the distance but find that, because of the contributions of the higher angular momenta, its range of applicability is markedly reduced when compared to the scattering by neutral species. The calculations of the quenching cross sections make evident the special features of ionic systems at ultralow collision energies and yield rate coefficients of the order of 10(-9) x cm(3) x s(-1), much larger than those found for the quenching of neutral molecules.

Quantum dynamics of ultracold Na+ Na2 collisions

Ultracold collisions between spin-polarized Na atoms and vibrationally excited Na2 molecules are investigated theoretically, using a reactive scattering formalism (including atom exchange). Calculations are carried out on both pairwise additive and nonadditive potential energy surfaces for the quartet electronic state. The Wigner threshold laws are followed for energies below 10(-5) K. Vibrational relaxation processes dominate elastic processes for temperatures below 10(-3)-10(-4) K. For temperatures below 10(-5) K, the rate coefficients for vibrational relaxation (v=1-->0) are 4.8x10(-11) and 5.2x10(-10) cm(3) s(-1) for the additive and nonadditive potentials, respectively. The large difference emphasizes the importance of using accurate potential energy surfaces for such calculations.