On the collisional transfer of nonequilibrium in the velocity distribution of resonant particles in a laser radiation field

Abstract

The collisional transfer of nonequilibrium in the velocity distribution of resonant particles in a laser radiation field is investigated theoretically. It is shown numerically that the transfer effect is weak. This makes it possible to use simpler approximate one-dimensional quantum kinetic equations instead of three-dimensional equations to solve spectroscopy and light-induced gas kinetics problems, where it is important to take account of the velocity dependence of the collision frequency. It is shown for anomalous light-induced drift, calculations of which are most sensitive to neglecting the transfer effect, that in a wide range of spectroscopy and light-induced gas kinetics problems the transfer of nonequilibrium can be neglected without risking the loss of important fine details of the phenomena being described.