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The Journal of Chemical Physics

Stereodynamics of ultracold rotationally inelastic collisions

Masato Morita, N. Balakrishnan

Published Nov 11, 2020• 23 citations
Publisher

Abstract

, and He near 1 K have revealed strong stereodynamic preference stemming from isolated shape resonances. So far, the experiments and subsequent theoretical analyses have considered the initial HD rotational state in an orientation specified by the projection quantum number m or a coherent superposition of different m states. However, it is known that such stereodynamic control is generally not effective in the ultracold energy regime due to the dominance of the incoming s-wave (l = 0, partial wave). Here, we provide a detailed analysis of the stereodynamics of rotational quenching of HD by He with both m and m' resolution, where m' refers to the inelastically scattered HD. We show the existence of a significant m dependence in the m'-resolved differential and integral cross sections even in the ultracold s-wave regime with a factor greater than 60 for j = 2 → j' = 1 and a factor greater than 1300 for j = 3 → j' = 2 transitions. In the helicity frame, however, the integral cross section has no initial orientation (k) dependence in the ultracold energy regime, even resolving with respect to the final orientation (k'). The distribution of final rotational state orientations (k') is found to be statistical (uniform), regardless of the initial orientation.

DOI
10.1063/5.0030808

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Stereodynamical Control of a Quantum Scattering Resonance in Cold Molecular Collisions

Pablo G. Jambrina, James F. E. Croft, Hua Guo +3 more

Cold collisions of light molecules are often dominated by a single partial wave resonance. For the rotational quenching of HD (v=1, j=2) by collisions with ground state para-H_{2}, the process is dominated by a single L=2 partial wave resonance centered around 0.1 K. Here, we show that this resonance can be switched on or off simply by appropriate alignment of the HD rotational angular momentum relative to the initial velocity vector, thereby enabling complete control of the collision outcome.

arXiv:1905.04765•Physical Review Letters•Jul 26, 2019•59 citations

Full-dimensional quantum scattering calculations of rovibrationally excited HD+HD collisions

Bikramaditya Mandal, Hubert Jóźwiak, Piotr Wcisło +1 more

Full-dimensional quantum scattering calculations are reported for ro-vibrational transitions in HD+HD collisions using a highly accurate interaction potential for the H$_2$-H$_2$ system. Several near-resonant ro-vibrational transitions are identified that conserve the overall rotational angular momentum and nearly conserve the internal energy of the collision partners. Key anisotropic terms that drive the rotational transitions and angular momentum partial waves that contribute to low energy resonant features in the energy dependence of the cross sections are identified. The computed results are in agreement with total cross sections reported in previous experimental results, including resonant features in the energy dependence of the cross section. In particular, low-energy cross sections show a strong resonant feature associated with an $l=3$ partial wave in the incident channel. Rate coefficients for several inelastic rotational and ro-vibrational transitions are reported for temperatures ranging from $0.1$ K to $200$ K and they display a maximum between $1$ K-$10$ K reflecting the important contributions from the $l=3$ shape resonance that occurs around 2.5 K.

physics.atom-phCross-listedarXiv:2603.04465•Mar 5, 2026

Ultracold collisions between two light indistinguishable diatomic molecules: Elastic and rotational energy transfer in HD+HD

Renat A. Sultanov, Dennis C. Guster, Sadhan K. Adhikari

A close coupling quantum-mechanical calculation is performed for rotational energy transfer in a HD+HD collision at very low energy, down to the ultracold temperatures: $T\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ K. A global six-dimensional H${}_{2}$-H${}_{2}$ potential-energy surface is adopted from a previous work [Boothroyd et al., J. Chem. Phys. 116, 666 (2002)]. State-resolved integral cross sections ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{ij\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{i}^{\ensuremath{'}}{j}^{\ensuremath{'}}}({\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{\text{kin}})$ of different quantum-mechanical rotational transitions $ij\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{i}^{\ensuremath{'}}{j}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ in the HD molecules and corresponding state-resolved thermal rate coefficients ${k}_{ij\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{i}^{\ensuremath{'}}{j}^{\ensuremath{'}}}(T)$ have been computed. Additionally, for comparison, H${}_{2}$+H${}_{2}$ calculations for a few selected rotational transitions have also been performed. The hydrogen and deuterated hydrogen molecules are treated as rigid rotors in this work. A pronounced isotope effect is identified in the cross sections of these collisions at low and ultracold temperatures.

arXiv:1111.2598•Physical Review A•May 3, 2012•4 citations

When experiment challenges theory: Scattering of vibrationally excited molecules in the cold collision energy regime

F. Javier Aoiz

The last decade has seen substantial advances in the exploration of inelastic and reactive collisions at collision energies in the cold ( < $<$ 1 K) and ultracold ( < 1 $<1$ mK) regime.1-13 These advances ushered in an understanding of cold and ultracold collisions that is impacting research areas ranging from molecular spectroscopy to quantum simulation and computation to quantum control of chemical reaction dynamics. Cold collisions are dominated by resonances, as amply manifest in most of the systems studied.1, 14 Resonances are also present in the thermal ( > $>$ 100 K) and hyperthermal ( > $>$ 1000 K) collision energy regimes,15 but obscured by background (non-resonant) scattering and the presence of many partial waves pertaining to higher angular momenta that blur the partial waves' individual contributions. Moreover, the outcome of thermal and hyperthermal collisions is somewhat insensitive to the details of the interaction potential – the potential energy surface (PES) – especially to its attractive long-range region. Only in a handful of cases, such as the F+HD exchange reaction, resonances in the thermal regime have been experimentally detected and theoretically accounted for by quantum mechanical scattering calculations.16, 17 In contrast, in the cold regime, collisions are dominated by only a few partial waves whose effects on the integral and differential scattering cross-sections can be singled out and linked to particular resonances. The cold collision energy regime has been attained by making use of crossed molecular beams that were either Stark- or Zeeman-decelerated or whose intersection angle could be reduced all the way down to the merging-beams limit. A beam emerging from a Stark or Zeeman decelerator has a variable, well-defined laboratory velocity. When crossed with a secondary beam at small angles (5 ∘ $^{\circ }$ –10 ∘ $^{\circ }$ ), collision energies in the 0.3–15 K could be readily achieved, as demonstrated by the group of van de Meerakker.9, 11 The technique of merged beams makes use of the ability to bend one of the beams by a magnetic or electric field such that the crossing angle becomes zero, thereby affording collision energies in the range 0.1 K–10 K. Merging beams have been used in studies of Penning ionization by the groups of Narevicius5, 12 and Osterwalder18 and made it possible to unravel shape and Feshbach resonances arising in this process. The techniques mentioned so far require the reactants to be polar or paramagnetic. For reactants that are neither, collision energies as low as 5 K could be achieved by taking advantage of a favorable combination of low intersection angles and low reduced mass of the reactants. This approach has been demonstrated by Bergeat, Costes, Naulin, and coworkers in a series of reactive3, 19 and inelastic collision experiments8, 20 of H 2 $_2$ . Yet, another approach to achieving low relative collision velocities relies on the coexpansion of the collision partners in a single molecular beam.21 If their masses are similar, both partners will end up with nearly the same velocities, within a few ms − 1 $^{-1}$ . Using this technique, Zare, Mukherjee, and coworkers carried out a series of experiments in which rotational quenching of HD by H 2 $_2$ , D 2 $_2$ , and He was investigated. Moreover, in these experiments, the HD molecule was prepared in v $v$ =1 and j $j$ =2 using Stark-field-induced adiabatic Raman passage that allowed, in addition, to align the rotational angular momentum of the HD reactant molecule with respect to the initial relative velocity of the HD + He reactants.22-24 Collisional energy transfer between rotation and translation, in which a molecule is excited or relaxed via scattering by an atom or another molecule, has been of particular significance for developing our understanding of inelastic collisions. Most notably, the scattering of NO molecules by rare gas (Rg) atoms has served as a benchmark system for both experimentalists and theorists for decades. In its ground electronic state, NO is a 2 Π $^2\Pi$ molecule with a single unpaired electron in an antibonding π ∗ $\pi ^*$ orbital. In this state, the rotational levels are split into two spin–orbit manifolds, defined by the projection | Ω | $|\Omega |$ ( = 1 2 $=\frac{1}{2}$ or 3 2 $\frac{3}{2}$ ) of the electronic angular momentum (orbital and spin) on the internuclear axis. The rotational levels with the same j $j$ in the two manifolds are separated by approximately 123 cm − 1 $^{-1}$ for v $v$ =0 (117 cm − 1 $^{-1}$ for v $v$ =10). In addition, each rotational level within each manifold is further split into two Λ $\Lambda$ -doublet states ( ε = ± 1 $\epsilon = \pm 1$ , e/f), which are nearly degenerate, but differ in parity, p = ( − 1 ) j − ε / 2 $p = (-1)^{j-\epsilon /2}$ . As the Rg atom approaches the NO molecule, the degeneracy of the Λ $\Lambda$ doublets is lifted, giving rise to two PESs, A ′ $A^{\prime }$ and A ′ ′ $A^{\prime \prime }$ , in which the orbital of the unpaired electron lies, respectively, in the plane of the three atoms or perpendicular to it. In computational practice, it is more convenient to use linear combinations (sums and differences) of the A ′ ′ $A^{\prime \prime }$ and A ′ $A^{\prime }$ PESs. Using hexapole focusing or Stark deceleration combined with detection via velocity ion imaging, fully state-to-state-resolved integral and differential cross sections for rotationally elastic and inelastic collisions could be measured with high resolution.9, 11, 25, 26 More than that, the orientation and alignment of the scattered (outgoing) NO molecules could be measured as a function of the scattering angle27-30 and, quite recently, the effects of orientation of the reactant (incoming) NO molecules on the differential cross section in collisions with Rg, mostly Ar, could be established.31-35 On the theory side, quantum mechanical close coupling (QMCC) scattering calculations on accurate two-dimensional ab initio PESs using the benchmark coupled-cluster, CCSD(T), method with the NO internuclear distance fixed at its equilibrium value36 were performed and found to account for all the details revealed by the experiments. Although state of the art, most of these experiments except for those described in Refs. 9, 11 were carried out at thermal energies for NO molecules in their lowest level, | v = 0 , j = 1 2 , Ω = 1 2 , f ⟩ $|v=0, j=\frac{1}{2}, \Omega =\frac{1}{2}, f\rangle$ . Scattering of highly vibrationally excited molecules in the cold energy regime remained an unexplored frontier until the recent work by the groups of Arthur Suits, Ad van der Avoird, Gerrit Groenenboom, and Hua Guo who added spin–orbit and rotational state selection and looked for spin- and rotational-state changing collisions to boot. Published in the current issue of Natural Sciences,37 this work is a culmination of a 3-year collaboration that included both implementation of new experimental techniques and boosting of theoretical methods. Working with the NO+Ar system, the authors made use of stimulated emission pumping via the electronically excited A 2 Σ + $A^2\Sigma ^+$ state to promote NO( 2 Π 1 2 $^2\Pi _{\frac{1}{2}}$ ) molecules to the vibrationally excited state with v = 10 $v=10$ and a selected spin–orbit state | Ω | $|\Omega |$ and rotational state j $j$ , | v = 10 , j , Ω , f ⟩ $|v=10, j,\Omega , f\rangle$ .38, 39 Low (cold) collision energies were achieved in a novel experimental setup of two beams (dual-beam arrangement) crossing at 4 ∘ $^{\circ }$ and intersected by the pump and dump laser beams of the stimulated-emission pumping scheme. Downstream, the collision products were probed using 1+1 ′ $^{\prime }$ REMPI with the ionization laser tuned just above the ionization threshold. Fully state-resolved angular distributions of the scattered NO molecules were measured by velocity ion slice imaging and detected by a charge-coupled device (CCD). In order to be able to detect the product (outgoing) molecules resulting from the cold NO + Ar collisions, some excess energy had to be made available to the products. This came in the form of the initial spin–orbit and/or rotational state energy. In the study highlighted herein,37 angular distributions leading to the spin–orbit changing transition | v = 10 , Ω = 3 2 , j = 3 2 f ⟩ → | v ′ = 10 , Ω ′ = 1 2 , j ′ = 9 2 , e ⟩ $|v=10, \Omega =\frac{3}{2}, j=\frac{3}{2} f\rangle \rightarrow |v^{\prime }=10, \Omega ^{\prime }=\frac{1}{2}, j^{\prime }=\frac{9}{2}, e \rangle$ were measured at energies in the 2 K–5 K range. Although intrabeam scattering could have been used as an alternative as it had been in previous work,21 the authors demonstrated that a dual-beam setup provides a superior angular and energy resolution. The highlighted experiment challenged the existing theoretical treatments of the NO+ Rg systems: first, the approximation of fixing NO at its equilibrium distance was bound to fail for NO in v = 10 $v=10$ due to the concomitant elongation of the NO bond. Second, for such a highly excited vibrational state, both the long- and short-range interactions are affected, triggering nonadiabatic effects involving rotational and spin–orbit degrees of freedom. The above rendered the single-reference coupled-cluster method used in previous treatments of NO( 2 Π 1 2 , v = 0 $^2\Pi _{\frac{1}{2}},v=0$ ) inadequate. Therefore, the authors of the highlighted paper37 constructed a new coupled-cluster PES as well as a multireference configuration-interaction (MRCI) PES and carried out full-fledged (3D) QMCC calculations on both PESs. These tour-de-force calculations reproduced quite well the experimental differential cross sections and defined a new state of the art in scattering calculations. However, some discrepancies remain as at low collision energies, and the accuracy of the long-range potential needed is a challenge for any ab initio method. Moreover, treating spin-changing collisions that are dominated by the essentially attractive difference potential, V A ′ ′ − V A ′ $V_{A^{\prime \prime }}-V_{A^{\prime }}$ , puts additional demands on the accuracy of the A ′ ′ $A^{\prime \prime }$ and A ′ $A^{\prime }$ PESs. The calculated integral cross section in the 3–4 cm − 1 $^{-1}$ energy interval exhibits a bump that may indicate the presence of resonances that show up as backscattering in the measured differential cross section. A partial-wave analysis points to overlapping resonances associated with contributions from several of the highest partial waves involved. In any case, tracing the resonances may require additional improvements of the existing PESs. All in all, the highlighted combined experimental and theoretical study sets a new standard for our understanding of cold collisions. There is no conflict of interest. The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1002/ntls.20210088. This Highlight has been internally reviewed and edited by Bretislav Friedrich and Gerard Meijer. No data available.

Natural Sciences•Nov 11, 2021•0 citations

Quantum control of molecular collisions at 1 kelvin

William E. Perreault, Nandini Mukherjee, Richard N. Zare

= 2) was prepared by Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage, with its bond axis aligned preferentially parallel or perpendicular to the lab-fixed relative velocity. The coexpansion brought the collision temperature down to 1 kelvin, restricting scattering to s and p partial waves. Scattering angular distributions showed a dramatic stereodynamic preference (~3:1) for perpendicular versus parallel alignment. The four-vector correlation measured between the initial and final velocities and the initial and final rotational angular momentum vectors of HD provides insight into the strong anisotropic forces present in the collision process.

Science•Oct 19, 2017•169 citations

Quantum-Controlled Collisions of H2 Molecules

Nandini Mukherjee

The amount of information that can be obtained from a scattering experiment depends upon the precision with which the quantum states are defined in the incoming channel. By precisely defining the incoming states and measuring the outgoing states in a scattering experiment, we set up the boundary condition for experimentally solving the Schrödinger equation. In this Perspective we discuss cold inelastic scattering experiments using the most theoretically tractable H 2 and its isotopologues as the target. We prepare the target in a precisely defined rovibrational ( v, j, m ) quantum state using a special coherent optical technique called the Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage (SARP). v and j represent the quantum numbers of the vibrational and rotational energy levels, and m refers to the projection of the rotational angular momentum vector j on a suitable quantization axis in the laboratory frame. Selection of the m quantum numbers defines the alignment of the molecular frame, which is necessary to probe the anisotropic interactions. For us to achieve the collision temperature in the range of a few degrees Kelvin, we co-expand the colliding partners in a mixed supersonic beam that is collimated to define a direction for the collision velocity. When the bond axis is aligned with respect to a well-defined collision velocity, SARP achieves stereodynamic control at the quantum scale. Through various examples of rotationally inelastic cold scattering experiments, we show how SARP coherently controls the dynamics of anisotropic interactions by preparing quantum superpositions of the orientational m states within a single rovibrational ( v, j ) energy state. A partial wave analysis, which has been developed for the cold scattering experiments, shows dominance of a resonant orbital that leaves its mark in the scattering angular distribution. These highly controlled cold collision experiments at the single partial wave limit allow the most direct comparison with the results of theoretical computations, necessary for accurate modeling of the molecular interaction potential.

The Journal of Physical Chemistry A•Jan 5, 2023•22 citations
, and He near 1 K have revealed strong stereodynamic preference stemming from isolated shape resonances. So far, the experiments and subsequent theoretical analyses have considered the initial HD rotational state in an orientation specified by the projection quantum number m or a coherent superposition of different m states. However, it is known that such stereodynamic control is generally not effective in the ultracold energy regime due to the dominance of the incoming s-wave (l = 0, partial wave). Here, we provide a detailed analysis of the stereodynamics of rotational quenching of HD by He with both m and m' resolution, where m' refers to the inelastically scattered HD. We show the existence of a significant m dependence in the m'-resolved differential and integral cross sections even in the ultracold s-wave regime with a factor greater than 60 for j = 2 → j' = 1 and a factor greater than 1300 for j = 3 → j' = 2 transitions. In the helicity frame, however, the integral cross section has no initial orientation (k) dependence in the ultracold energy regime, even resolving with respect to the final orientation (k'). The distribution of final rotational state orientations (k') is found to be statistical (uniform), regardless of the initial orientation.
Full-dimensional quantum scattering calculations are reported for ro-vibrational transitions in HD+HD collisions using a highly accurate interaction potential for the H2_22​-H2_22​ system. Several near-resonant ro-vibrational transitions are identified that conserve the overall rotational angular momentum and nearly conserve the internal energy of the collision partners. Key anisotropic terms that drive the rotational transitions and angular momentum partial waves that contribute to low energy resonant features in the energy dependence of the cross sections are identified. The computed results are in agreement with total cross sections reported in previous experimental results, including resonant features in the energy dependence of the cross section. In particular, low-energy cross sections show a strong resonant feature associated with an l=3l=3l=3 partial wave in the incident channel. Rate coefficients for several inelastic rotational and ro-vibrational transitions are reported for temperatures ranging from 0.10.10.1 K to 200200200 K and they display a maximum between 111 K-101010 K reflecting the important contributions from the l=3l=3l=3 shape resonance that occurs around 2.5 K.
A close coupling quantum-mechanical calculation is performed for rotational energy transfer in a HD+HD collision at very low energy, down to the ultracold temperatures: $T\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ K. A global six-dimensional H2{}_{2}2​-H2{}_{2}2​ potential-energy surface is adopted from a previous work [Boothroyd et al., J. Chem. Phys. 116, 666 (2002)]. State-resolved integral cross sections ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{ij\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{i}^{\ensuremath{'}}{j}^{\ensuremath{'}}}({\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{\text{kin}})$ of different quantum-mechanical rotational transitions $ij\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{i}^{\ensuremath{'}}{j}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ in the HD molecules and corresponding state-resolved thermal rate coefficients ${k}_{ij\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{i}^{\ensuremath{'}}{j}^{\ensuremath{'}}}(T)$ have been computed. Additionally, for comparison, H2{}_{2}2​+H2{}_{2}2​ calculations for a few selected rotational transitions have also been performed. The hydrogen and deuterated hydrogen molecules are treated as rigid rotors in this work. A pronounced isotope effect is identified in the cross sections of these collisions at low and ultracold temperatures.
The last decade has seen substantial advances in the exploration of inelastic and reactive collisions at collision energies in the cold ( < <<< 1 K) and ultracold ( < 1 <1<1<1 mK) regime.1-13 These advances ushered in an understanding of cold and ultracold collisions that is impacting research areas ranging from molecular spectroscopy to quantum simulation and computation to quantum control of chemical reaction dynamics. Cold collisions are dominated by resonances, as amply manifest in most of the systems studied.1, 14 Resonances are also present in the thermal ( > >>> 100 K) and hyperthermal ( > >>> 1000 K) collision energy regimes,15 but obscured by background (non-resonant) scattering and the presence of many partial waves pertaining to higher angular momenta that blur the partial waves' individual contributions. Moreover, the outcome of thermal and hyperthermal collisions is somewhat insensitive to the details of the interaction potential – the potential energy surface (PES) – especially to its attractive long-range region. Only in a handful of cases, such as the F+HD exchange reaction, resonances in the thermal regime have been experimentally detected and theoretically accounted for by quantum mechanical scattering calculations.16, 17 In contrast, in the cold regime, collisions are dominated by only a few partial waves whose effects on the integral and differential scattering cross-sections can be singled out and linked to particular resonances. The cold collision energy regime has been attained by making use of crossed molecular beams that were either Stark- or Zeeman-decelerated or whose intersection angle could be reduced all the way down to the merging-beams limit. A beam emerging from a Stark or Zeeman decelerator has a variable, well-defined laboratory velocity. When crossed with a secondary beam at small angles (5 ∘ ∘^{\circ }∘ –10 ∘ ∘^{\circ }∘ ), collision energies in the 0.3–15 K could be readily achieved, as demonstrated by the group of van de Meerakker.9, 11 The technique of merged beams makes use of the ability to bend one of the beams by a magnetic or electric field such that the crossing angle becomes zero, thereby affording collision energies in the range 0.1 K–10 K. Merging beams have been used in studies of Penning ionization by the groups of Narevicius5, 12 and Osterwalder18 and made it possible to unravel shape and Feshbach resonances arising in this process. The techniques mentioned so far require the reactants to be polar or paramagnetic. For reactants that are neither, collision energies as low as 5 K could be achieved by taking advantage of a favorable combination of low intersection angles and low reduced mass of the reactants. This approach has been demonstrated by Bergeat, Costes, Naulin, and coworkers in a series of reactive3, 19 and inelastic collision experiments8, 20 of H 2 2_22​ . Yet, another approach to achieving low relative collision velocities relies on the coexpansion of the collision partners in a single molecular beam.21 If their masses are similar, both partners will end up with nearly the same velocities, within a few ms − 1 −1^{-1}−1 . Using this technique, Zare, Mukherjee, and coworkers carried out a series of experiments in which rotational quenching of HD by H 2 2_22​ , D 2 2_22​ , and He was investigated. Moreover, in these experiments, the HD molecule was prepared in v vvv =1 and j jjj =2 using Stark-field-induced adiabatic Raman passage that allowed, in addition, to align the rotational angular momentum of the HD reactant molecule with respect to the initial relative velocity of the HD + He reactants.22-24 Collisional energy transfer between rotation and translation, in which a molecule is excited or relaxed via scattering by an atom or another molecule, has been of particular significance for developing our understanding of inelastic collisions. Most notably, the scattering of NO molecules by rare gas (Rg) atoms has served as a benchmark system for both experimentalists and theorists for decades. In its ground electronic state, NO is a 2 Π 2Π^2\Pi2Π molecule with a single unpaired electron in an antibonding π ∗ π∗\pi ^*π∗ orbital. In this state, the rotational levels are split into two spin–orbit manifolds, defined by the projection | Ω | ∣Ω∣|\Omega |∣Ω∣ ( = 1 2 =12=\frac{1}{2}=21​ or 3 2 32\frac{3}{2}23​ ) of the electronic angular momentum (orbital and spin) on the internuclear axis. The rotational levels with the same j jjj in the two manifolds are separated by approximately 123 cm − 1 −1^{-1}−1 for v vvv =0 (117 cm − 1 −1^{-1}−1 for v vvv =10). In addition, each rotational level within each manifold is further split into two Λ Λ\LambdaΛ -doublet states ( ε = ± 1 ϵ=±1\epsilon = \pm 1ϵ=±1 , e/f), which are nearly degenerate, but differ in parity, p = ( − 1 ) j − ε / 2 p=(−1)j−ϵ/2p = (-1)^{j-\epsilon /2}p=(−1)j−ϵ/2 . As the Rg atom approaches the NO molecule, the degeneracy of the Λ Λ\LambdaΛ doublets is lifted, giving rise to two PESs, A ′ A′A^{\prime }A′ and A ′ ′ A′′A^{\prime \prime }A′′ , in which the orbital of the unpaired electron lies, respectively, in the plane of the three atoms or perpendicular to it. In computational practice, it is more convenient to use linear combinations (sums and differences) of the A ′ ′ A′′A^{\prime \prime }A′′ and A ′ A′A^{\prime }A′ PESs. Using hexapole focusing or Stark deceleration combined with detection via velocity ion imaging, fully state-to-state-resolved integral and differential cross sections for rotationally elastic and inelastic collisions could be measured with high resolution.9, 11, 25, 26 More than that, the orientation and alignment of the scattered (outgoing) NO molecules could be measured as a function of the scattering angle27-30 and, quite recently, the effects of orientation of the reactant (incoming) NO molecules on the differential cross section in collisions with Rg, mostly Ar, could be established.31-35 On the theory side, quantum mechanical close coupling (QMCC) scattering calculations on accurate two-dimensional ab initio PESs using the benchmark coupled-cluster, CCSD(T), method with the NO internuclear distance fixed at its equilibrium value36 were performed and found to account for all the details revealed by the experiments. Although state of the art, most of these experiments except for those described in Refs. 9, 11 were carried out at thermal energies for NO molecules in their lowest level, | v = 0 , j = 1 2 , Ω = 1 2 , f ⟩ ∣v=0,j=12,Ω=12,f⟩|v=0, j=\frac{1}{2}, \Omega =\frac{1}{2}, f\rangle∣v=0,j=21​,Ω=21​,f⟩ . Scattering of highly vibrationally excited molecules in the cold energy regime remained an unexplored frontier until the recent work by the groups of Arthur Suits, Ad van der Avoird, Gerrit Groenenboom, and Hua Guo who added spin–orbit and rotational state selection and looked for spin- and rotational-state changing collisions to boot. Published in the current issue of Natural Sciences,37 this work is a culmination of a 3-year collaboration that included both implementation of new experimental techniques and boosting of theoretical methods. Working with the NO+Ar system, the authors made use of stimulated emission pumping via the electronically excited A 2 Σ + A2Σ+A^2\Sigma ^+A2Σ+ state to promote NO( 2 Π 1 2 2Π12^2\Pi _{\frac{1}{2}}2Π21​​ ) molecules to the vibrationally excited state with v = 10 v=10v=10v=10 and a selected spin–orbit state | Ω | ∣Ω∣|\Omega |∣Ω∣ and rotational state j jjj , | v = 10 , j , Ω , f ⟩ ∣v=10,j,Ω,f⟩|v=10, j,\Omega , f\rangle∣v=10,j,Ω,f⟩ .38, 39 Low (cold) collision energies were achieved in a novel experimental setup of two beams (dual-beam arrangement) crossing at 4 ∘ ∘^{\circ }∘ and intersected by the pump and dump laser beams of the stimulated-emission pumping scheme. Downstream, the collision products were probed using 1+1 ′ ′^{\prime }′ REMPI with the ionization laser tuned just above the ionization threshold. Fully state-resolved angular distributions of the scattered NO molecules were measured by velocity ion slice imaging and detected by a charge-coupled device (CCD). In order to be able to detect the product (outgoing) molecules resulting from the cold NO + Ar collisions, some excess energy had to be made available to the products. This came in the form of the initial spin–orbit and/or rotational state energy. In the study highlighted herein,37 angular distributions leading to the spin–orbit changing transition | v = 10 , Ω = 3 2 , j = 3 2 f ⟩ → | v ′ = 10 , Ω ′ = 1 2 , j ′ = 9 2 , e ⟩ ∣v=10,Ω=32,j=32f⟩→∣v′=10,Ω′=12,j′=92,e⟩|v=10, \Omega =\frac{3}{2}, j=\frac{3}{2} f\rangle \rightarrow |v^{\prime }=10, \Omega ^{\prime }=\frac{1}{2}, j^{\prime }=\frac{9}{2}, e \rangle∣v=10,Ω=23​,j=23​f⟩→∣v′=10,Ω′=21​,j′=29​,e⟩ were measured at energies in the 2 K–5 K range. Although intrabeam scattering could have been used as an alternative as it had been in previous work,21 the authors demonstrated that a dual-beam setup provides a superior angular and energy resolution. The highlighted experiment challenged the existing theoretical treatments of the NO+ Rg systems: first, the approximation of fixing NO at its equilibrium distance was bound to fail for NO in v = 10 v=10v=10v=10 due to the concomitant elongation of the NO bond. Second, for such a highly excited vibrational state, both the long- and short-range interactions are affected, triggering nonadiabatic effects involving rotational and spin–orbit degrees of freedom. The above rendered the single-reference coupled-cluster method used in previous treatments of NO( 2 Π 1 2 , v = 0 2Π12,v=0^2\Pi _{\frac{1}{2}},v=02Π21​​,v=0 ) inadequate. Therefore, the authors of the highlighted paper37 constructed a new coupled-cluster PES as well as a multireference configuration-interaction (MRCI) PES and carried out full-fledged (3D) QMCC calculations on both PESs. These tour-de-force calculations reproduced quite well the experimental differential cross sections and defined a new state of the art in scattering calculations. However, some discrepancies remain as at low collision energies, and the accuracy of the long-range potential needed is a challenge for any ab initio method. Moreover, treating spin-changing collisions that are dominated by the essentially attractive difference potential, V A ′ ′ − V A ′ VA′′−VA′V_{A^{\prime \prime }}-V_{A^{\prime }}VA′′​−VA′​ , puts additional demands on the accuracy of the A ′ ′ A′′A^{\prime \prime }A′′ and A ′ A′A^{\prime }A′ PESs. The calculated integral cross section in the 3–4 cm − 1 −1^{-1}−1 energy interval exhibits a bump that may indicate the presence of resonances that show up as backscattering in the measured differential cross section. A partial-wave analysis points to overlapping resonances associated with contributions from several of the highest partial waves involved. In any case, tracing the resonances may require additional improvements of the existing PESs. All in all, the highlighted combined experimental and theoretical study sets a new standard for our understanding of cold collisions. There is no conflict of interest. The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1002/ntls.20210088. This Highlight has been internally reviewed and edited by Bretislav Friedrich and Gerard Meijer. No data available.
= 2) was prepared by Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage, with its bond axis aligned preferentially parallel or perpendicular to the lab-fixed relative velocity. The coexpansion brought the collision temperature down to 1 kelvin, restricting scattering to s and p partial waves. Scattering angular distributions showed a dramatic stereodynamic preference (~3:1) for perpendicular versus parallel alignment. The four-vector correlation measured between the initial and final velocities and the initial and final rotational angular momentum vectors of HD provides insight into the strong anisotropic forces present in the collision process.
The amount of information that can be obtained from a scattering experiment depends upon the precision with which the quantum states are defined in the incoming channel. By precisely defining the incoming states and measuring the outgoing states in a scattering experiment, we set up the boundary condition for experimentally solving the Schrödinger equation. In this Perspective we discuss cold inelastic scattering experiments using the most theoretically tractable H 2 and its isotopologues as the target. We prepare the target in a precisely defined rovibrational ( v, j, m ) quantum state using a special coherent optical technique called the Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage (SARP). v and j represent the quantum numbers of the vibrational and rotational energy levels, and m refers to the projection of the rotational angular momentum vector j on a suitable quantization axis in the laboratory frame. Selection of the m quantum numbers defines the alignment of the molecular frame, which is necessary to probe the anisotropic interactions. For us to achieve the collision temperature in the range of a few degrees Kelvin, we co-expand the colliding partners in a mixed supersonic beam that is collimated to define a direction for the collision velocity. When the bond axis is aligned with respect to a well-defined collision velocity, SARP achieves stereodynamic control at the quantum scale. Through various examples of rotationally inelastic cold scattering experiments, we show how SARP coherently controls the dynamics of anisotropic interactions by preparing quantum superpositions of the orientational m states within a single rovibrational ( v, j ) energy state. A partial wave analysis, which has been developed for the cold scattering experiments, shows dominance of a resonant orbital that leaves its mark in the scattering angular distribution. These highly controlled cold collision experiments at the single partial wave limit allow the most direct comparison with the results of theoretical computations, necessary for accurate modeling of the molecular interaction potential.