Atom–molecule interactions from multiproperty analysis. An integrated study of the dynamics for oxygen–rare-gas systems

Abstract

The interaction potential between the ground electronic state of the oxygen molecule and the helium atom is obtained through a numerical fit of data from collision experiments and is given via an effective, spherically symmetric analytic form. The latter expression, together with similar ones obtained previously for the O₂–Ar and O₂–O₂ systems, is then used within a quantum-mechanical model to treat vibrationally inelastic processes and to generate various partial integral cross-sections at several energies. A comparison with experimental relaxation data is then carried out for the three cases examined; the results show generally good agreement for the He–O₂ and Ar–O₂ systems, suggest a greater influence of rotational inelasticity for the O₂–O₂ case and allow us to assess the importance of Van der Waals complex formation on the relaxation mechanism.