2008/04/30 by Mikhail Lemeshko, Bretislav Friedrich
Physics and Astronomy · #physics.chem-ph #physics.atom-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.ijms.2008.06.010
published as Int. J. Mass. Spectrom. 280, 19 (2009) · 19 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Int. J. Mass Spec
arxiv created 2008/04/30 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We examine the effects of a linearly polarized nonresonant radiative field on the dynamics of rotationally inelastic Na+ + N2 collisions at eV collision energies. Our treatment is based on the Fraunhofer model of matter wave scattering and its recent extension to collisions in electric fields [arXiv:0804.3318v1]. The nonresonant radiative field changes the effective shape of the target molecule by aligning it in the space-fixed frame. This markedly alters the differential and integral scattering cross sections. As the cross sections can be evaluated for a polarization of the radiative field collinear or perpendicular to the relative velocity vector, the model also offers predictions about steric asymmetry of the collisions.