The Rb2 31Π<i>g</i> state: Observation and analysis

Abstract

This paper reports observations and analysis of the Rb₂ 3¹Π _<i>g</i> state. A total of 323 rovibrational term values spanning the range of the rotational quantum number <i>J</i> = 7 through 77 and the vibrational quantum number <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>v</mml:mi></mml:math> = 2 through 23 (about 1/3 of the potential well depth) were measured using the optical-optical double resonance technique. The term values are simulated within a model of a piece-wise multi-parameter potential energy function based on the generalized splines. This function not only enables a reproduction of the experimental data with a reasonable quality but also approximates the available <i>ab initio</i> function in its whole range with a uniform accuracy.