Quantum mechanical study of vibrational energy transfer in Ar- O 3 collisions: Influence of symmetry

Abstract

The vibrational energy transfer in Ar- O3 collisions is investigated within the breathing sphere approximation. Ozone wave functions are calculated with a simplified potential energy surface and used in the close coupling scattering equations. Inelastic transition probabilities are determined for all bound states of O3. Energy transfer is studied in one asymmetric, 16O 16O 18O, and two symmetric isotopomers, 16O 16O 16O and 16O 18O 16O. Two measures of the energy transfer are considered: Microcanonical deactivation for a fixed collision energy and thermal vibrational relaxation described by the master equation at a fixed temperature. In either case, the energy transfer is symmetry independent near the dissociation threshold and the sensitivity to symmetry grows as the ozone energy decreases. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.