A full-dimensional rigorous quantum mechanical treatment of non-reactive inelastic scattering of an open-shell diatom [e.g., NO(2Π)] with a structureless and spinless atom is presented within the time-independent close-coupling framework. The inclusion of the diatomic vibrational degree of freedom allows the investigation of transitions between different vibrational manifolds, in addition to those between different rotational, spin–orbit, and Λ-doublet states. This method is applied to the scattering of vibrationally excited NO(2Π) with Ar and H (with its spin ignored). The former has negligible vibrational inelasticity, thanks to the weak interaction between the two collisional partners. This conclusion justifies the commonly used two-dimensional approximation in treating NO scattering with rare gas atoms. The latter, on the other hand, is shown to undergo significant vibrational relaxation, even in the ultra-cold regime, owing to a chemically bonded (HNO) complex on the lowest-lying singlet potential energy surfaces.
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HIBRIDON is a package of programs for the time-independent quantum treatment of inelastic collisions and photodissociation written by M. H. Alexander, D. E. Manolopoulos, H.-J. Werner, B. Follmeg, P. J. Dagdigian, P. F. Vohralik, D. Lemoine, G. Corey, R. Gordon, B. Johnson, T. Orlikowski, A. Berning, A. Degli-Esposti, C. Rist, B. Pouilly, G. v. d. Sanden, M. Yang, F. d. Weerd, S. Gregurick, J. Klos, and F. Lique..