Determination of cross sections for collisionally induced multipole relaxation in alkali-metal atoms from Zeeman fluorescence intensities.

Abstract

The determination of cross sections for the relaxation of atomic multipole moments from the intensities of the components of a resolved Zeeman fluorescence spectrum may be carried out using the density-matrix formalism. However, the spherical-tensor basis is not well adapted to state-selected measurements and can allow a significant propagation of error. We can reduce the error by determining the Q(j,m\ensuremath{\rightarrow}j',m') cross sections directly from the data taken at the lowest pressures. A comparison is given between recent experimental and theoretical relaxation cross sections for collisions of 5 $^{2}P$ potassium atoms with ground-state He, Ne, and Ar atoms.