Physica Scripta
A study of inelastic collisions Rb(7S) + Rb(5S). Theoretical aspects
V. Grushevsky, Mārtiņš Jansons, K. Orlovsky
Abstract
The mechanisms of nonresonant excitation transfer process in thermal collisions of two rubidium atoms Rb(7S) + Rb(5S) → Rb(5D) + Rb(5S) was studied theoretically, under conditions when the initial and final states of a system of two colliding atoms are not connected with each other by electric multipole transitions. Population processes of Rb 5D states were considered using calculated adiabatic potential curves of the Rb 2 quasimolecule in asymptotic approximation. The calculated cross-sections (σ theor = 5.0 × 10 −15 cm 2 ) are in good agreement with experimental results [σ exp = (8.0 ± 4.0) × 10 −15 cm 2 ] at thermal collision energies ( T ∼ 500 K).