Semiclassical Treatment of Vibrationally Inelastic Collisions

Abstract

A semiclassical theory for inelastic collisions is used to calculate direct and multiple transition probabilities for the collinear collision of an atom with a harmonic oscillator. The method is based upon a single optimal choice of the effective interaction potential for the entrance and exit scattering channels. In light of the simplicity of this approach as well as the agreement with exact quantum‐mechanical results for this model problem, extensions of the theory to more complex inelastic processes are possible.