Laser Studies of Vibrational and Rotational Relaxation in Small Molecules

Abstract

The transfer of energy among vibrational, rotational, and translational degrees of freedom has been a topic of both fundamental and practical importance for many years. An understanding of the processes which control the rates, path­ ways, and cross sections for energy exchange between different degrees of freedom and the flow of energy between various modes of polyatomic molecules is crucial to the development of improved theories of chemical reactivity. In addition experimental energy transfer data can be used to test the quality of intermolecular potentials as well as the accuracy of approximate scattering