Generalized reorientation cross section for cylindrically symmetric velocity distributions

Abstract

Generalized reorientation cross sections are derived for the case of atom–molecule collisions where the molecules initially have a velocity distribution cylindrically symmetric about an axis in the laboratory reference frame. This spatial ordering of the velocity can come about, for instance, by exciting molecular electronic states with a light source whose linewidth is much narrower than the Doppler-broadened absorption line. A simple kinetic theory can be set up in terms of state multipoles that are not completely irreducible; the resulting reorientation cross sections are only slightly more complex than the cross sections occurring in a spherically symmetric velocity field. Two approximations are investigated: a McGuire–Kouri mj-conserving model and a semiclassical model where the orientation of the rotation plane is conserved. The import of the generalized cross sections for several types of experiment and the applicability of the approximate models are discussed.