RESONANCE EXCITATION TRANSFER BETWEEN 2 DIPOLE ROTORS FOR HIGH ROTATIONAL QUANTUM NUMBERS

A classical description of the resonance transfer of rotational energy between identical rigid rotors through the dipole-dipole interaction is formulated. It is shown that the sudden approximation provides a satisfactory approach for the calculation of the excitation transfer cross section in collisions of rotationally polarized molecules with high j quantum numbers. The resonance excitation transfer cross section for collisions of unpolarized molecules is calculated.