Extension of the quasistatic far-wing line shape theory to multicomponent anisotropic potentials

Abstract

The formalism developed previously for the calculation of the far-wing line shape function and the corresponding absorption coefficient using a single-component anisotropic interaction term and the binary collision and quasistatic approximations is generalized to multicomponent anisotropic potential functions. Explicit expressions are presented for several common cases, including the long-range dipole–dipole plus dipole–quadrupole interaction and a linear molecule interacting with a perturber atom. After determining the multicomponent functional representation for the interaction between CO2 and Ar from previous published data, we calculate the theoretical line shape function and the corresponding absorption due to the ν3 band of CO2 in the frequency region 2400–2580 cm−1 and compare our results with previous calculations carried out using a single-component anisotropic interaction, and with the results obtained assuming Lorentzian line shapes. The principal uncertainties in the present results, possible refinements of the theoretical formalism, and the applicability to other systems are discussed briefly.