V-T AND V-V RATE CONSTANTS FOR ENERGY-TRANSFER IN DIATOMICS - AN ACCURATE ANALYTICAL APPROXIMATION

Analytical expressions for V-T and V-V rate constants are obtained taking into account long-range attractive interaction. A good quantitative agreement with experimental data and those of three-dimensional semiclassical calculations for the N2 molecule is demonstrated. The constants suggested are also shown to be useful in interpreting the vibrational relaxation of N2 under discharge and post-discharge conditions. A new accurate vibrational energy spectrum of the N2 molecule is calculated and shown to be very important when determining rate constants for high quantum numbers. © 1990.