Collisional energy transfer in highly excited molecules

The excitation/de-excitation step in the Lindemann mechanism is investigated in detail using model development and classical trajectory studies based on a realistic potential energy surface. The model, based on a soft-sphere/line-of-centers approach and using elements of Landau-Teller theory and phase space theory, correctly predicts most aspects of the joint probability distribution P(ΔE,ΔJ) for the collisional excitation and de-excitation process in the argon-allyl system. The classical trajectories both confirm the validity of the model and provide insight into the energy transfer. The potential employed was based on a previously available ab initio intramolecular potential for the allyl fit to 97418 allyl electronic energies and an intermolecular potential fit to 286 Ar-allyl energies. Intramolecular energies were calculated at the CCSD(T)/AVTZ level of theory, while intermolecular energies were calculated at the MP2/AVTZ level of theory. Trajectories were calculated for each of four starting allyl isomers and for an initial rotational level of Ji = 0 as well as for Ji taken from a microcanonical distribution. Despite a dissimilarity in Ar-allyl potentials for fixed Ar-allyl geometries, energy transfer properties starting from four different isomers were found to be remarkably alike. A contributing factor appears to be that the orientation-averaged potentials are almost identical. The model we have developed suggests that most hydrocarbons should have similar energy transfer properties, scaled by differences in the potential offset of the atom-hydrogen interaction. Available data corroborate this suggestion.