New Look at the Retention of Orbital Alignment in Collisions Involving Atoms in1P Electronic States: Ca(4s5p1P) + He

摘要

The retention of orbital alignment in collisions of Ca(4s5p1P) atoms with Hetargets is examined anew, by inward propagation of the full wavefunction of the system, corresponding to a specifically prepared orientation of the p orbital, followed by projection of the incoming flux appropriates the description of the molecular region. A previous error in the description of the initial state by Alexander and Pouilly has been corrected here. The results of the quantum flux redistribution calculations are virtually identical to the predictions of more conventional semiclassical impact parameter calculations, and , furthermore, are consistent with the concept of orbital locking, in which the initial space frame orientation of the p orbital is preserved until the collision partners attain the locking radius . However, locking is found to occur at values of the internuclear separation far smaller than would be predicted by some simple models. Analysis of the flux redistribution and of the partial cross sections for the inelastic process collisions are completely consistent with a model in which the transition probability is proportional solely to the flux at the point of crossing.