Solution of the coupled equations of inelastic atom–molecule scattering for a single initial state

Abstract

A variation-iteration method is proposed for solving the coupled, second-order differential equations, which arise in atom–molecule inelastic scattering theory, directly for a single, linearly independent vector of functions with the proper S-matrix boundary conditions. As a demonstration of the potential usefulness of this method a set of 210 coupled equations, nearly twice the number which can be handled with standard methods, for He–CO rotationally inelastic collisions is solved and compared to the Monte Carlo classical trajectory results.