2007/09/30 by Goulven Quéméner, N. Balakrishnan, Naduvalath Balakrishnan +1 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Spectroscopy and Laser Applications #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.77.030704
published as Phys. Rev. A 77, 030704(R) (2008) · 4 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2008/01/15 · openalex publication_date 2008/03/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present a rigorous study of vibrational relaxation in para\text\ensuremath-H2+para\text\ensuremath-H2 collisions at cold and ultracold temperatures and identify an efficient mechanism of rovibrational energy transfer. If the colliding molecules are in different rotational and vibrational levels, the internal energy may be transferred between the molecules through an extremely state-selective process involving simultaneous conservation of internal energy and total rotational angular momentum. The same transition in collisions of distinguishable molecules corresponds to the rotational energy transfer from one vibrational state of the colliding molecules to another.