Rotational energy transfer in Na*2–Xe collisions: Level to level dynamics

Abstract

Using the method of laser fluorescence we have measured thermally averaged rate constants for rotation changing collisions of Na*2 (A 1Σ) with Xe at six values of initial rotational quantum numbers ranging from 16 to 74. We propose a new scaling law based on the T matrix formalism which fits all these rates to within 20%. This scaling law shows that the square of the T matrix has a power law dependence on the amount of energy transferred, and that mj is conserved in the collision.