Atomic Collision Theory

The theory of atom-molecule collisions is one of the basic fields in chemi cal physics. Its most challenging part - the dynamics of chemical reactions - is as yet unresolved, but is developing very quickly. It is here a great help to have an analysis of those parts of collision theory which are already complete, a good example being the theory of atomic collisions in process es specific to chemical physics. It has long been observed that many notions of this theory can also be applied successfully to reactive and unreactive molecular collisions. More over, atomic collisions often represent a touchstone in testing approaches proposed for the solution of more complicated problems. Research on the theory of slow atomic collisions carried out at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Physics has been based on just these ideas. A general viewpoint concerning the setting up and representation of the theory came out of these studies, and appeared to be useful in studying complicated systems as well. It underlies the representation of the theory of slow atomic colli sions in this book.

Table of atomic constants

Topics in Atomic Collision Theory originated in a course of graduate lectures given at the University of Colorado and at University College in London. It is recommended for students in physics and related fields who are interested in the application of quantum scattering theory to low-energy atomic collision phenomena. No attention is given to the electromagnetic, nuclear, or elementary particle domains. The book is organized into three parts: static field scattering, electron-atom collisions, and atom-atom collisions. These are in the order of increasing physical complexity and hence necessarily in the order of decreasing mathematical tractability. The topics and methods selected were those which contributed most significantly to the understanding of the physics and the calculation of reliable cross sections. The attempt has been made to treat each of the sections in a complete and self-contained manner. The limited scope of this book has unfortunately made it necessary to omit discussion of many promising methods.

Commencing with a self-contained overview of atomic collision theory, this monograph presents recent developments of R-matrix theory and its applications to a wide-range of atomic molecular and optical processes. These developments include the electron and photon collisions with atoms, ions and molecules which are required in the analysis of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, multiphoton processes required in the analysis of superintense laser interactions with atoms and molecules and positron collisions with atoms and molecules required in antimatter studies of scientific and technologial importance. Basic mathematical results and general and widely used R-matrix computer programs are summarized in the appendices.

Chemistry 2e is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. The textbook provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of chemistry and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. The book also includes a number of innovative features, including interactive exercises and real-world applications, designed to enhance student learning. The second edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Substantial improvements have been made in the figures, illustrations, and example exercises that support the text narrative. Changes made in Chemistry 2e are described in the preface to help instructors transition to the second edition.

The broad field of molecular collisions is one of considerable current interest, one in which there is a great deal of research activity, both experi mental and theoretical. This is probably because elastic, inelastic, and reactive intermolecular collisions are of central importance in many of the fundamental processes of chemistry and physics. One small area of this field, namely atom-molecule collisions, is now beginning to be "understood" from first principles. Although the more general subject of the collisions of polyatomic molecules is of great im portance and intrinsic interest, it is still too complex from the viewpoint of theoretical understanding. However, for atoms and simple molecules the essential theory is well developed, and computational methods are sufficiently advanced that calculations can now be favorably compared with experimental results. This "coming together" of the subject (and, incidentally, of physicists and chemists !), though still in an early stage, signals that the time is ripe for an appraisal and review of the theoretical basis of atom-molecule collisions. It is especially important for the experimentalist in the field to have a working knowledge of the theory and computational methods required to describe the experimentally observable behavior of the system. By now many of the alternative theoretical approaches and computational procedures have been tested and intercompared. More-or-Iess optimal methods for dealing with each aspect are emerging. In many cases working equations, even schematic algorithms, have been developed, with assumptions and caveats delineated.

An understanding of the collisions between micro particles is of great importance for the number of fields belonging to physics, chemistry, astrophysics, biophysics etc. The present book, a theory for electron-atom and molecule collisions is developed using non-relativistic quantum mechanics in a systematic and lucid manner. The scattering theory is an essential part of the quantum mechanics course of all universities. During the last 30 years, the author has lectured on the topics presented in this book (collisions physics, photon-atom collisions, electron-atom and electron-molecule collisions, "electron-photon delayed coincidence technique", etc.) at many institutions including Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, The University of Western Ontario, Canada, and The Meerut University, India. The present book is the outcome of those lectures and is written to serve as a textbook for post-graduate and pre-PhD students and as a reference book for researchers.

In working with graduate students in engineering physics at the University of Virginia on research problems in gas kinetics, radiation biology, ion materials interactions, and upper-atmosphere chemistry, it became quite apparent that there was no satisfactory text available to these students on atomic and molecular collisions. For graduate students in physics and quantum chemistry and researchers in atomic and molecular interactions there are a large number of excellent advanced texts. However, for students in applied science, who require some knowledge and understanding of col lision phenomena, such texts are of little use. These students often have some background in modern physics and/or chemistry but lack graduate level course work in quantum mechanics. Such students, however, tend to have a good intuitive grasp of classical mechanics and have been exposed to wave phenomena in some form (e. g. , electricity and magnetism, acoustics, etc. ). Further, their requirements in using collision processes and employing models do not generally include the use of formal scattering theory, a large fraction of the content of many advanced texts. In fact, most researchers who work in the area of atomic and molecular collisions tend to pride themselves on their ability to describe results using simple theoretical models based on classical and semiclassical methods.