MICROWAVE PRESSURE BROADENING. SUDDEN PERTURBATION APPROXIMATION.
Abstract
The raison d'etre of studies of pressure broadening is the search for the quantitative characterization of molecular interaction. In principle, a molecule undergoing a spectroscopically observable transition serves as a highly sensitive probe of the force field of its environment. The ligament between the results of spectroscopic experiments and their interpretation in terms of intermolecular forces is the theory of pressure broadening. At microwave frequencies, the region of rotational and inversion lines in molecules, experiment holds the promise of yielding the greatest amount of information, owing to the sensitivity of such transitions to molecular interaction. A theory which has dealt rather successfully with the problem of pressure-broadened microwave transitions, including diabatic effects, is that due to Anderson. In spite of the simplicity of its underlying assumptions (classical path, zero collision time, two-body collisions, and a minimum separation), the formalism of this theory leads to an elaborate computational apparatus. The present work explores the question as to whether a less elaborate formalism, arising from the use of the sudden approximation in perturbation theory, can lead to a theory of microwave pressure broadening which retains the salient physical features of the problem and is more susceptible to numerical analysis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0607572
Entities
People
- Carl O. Trindle
- Karl H. Illinger
Organizations
- Tufts University