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Vibrational excitation through tug-of-war inelastic collisions

Author

Listed:
  • Stuart J. Greaves

    (Laser Chemistry, Spectroscopy and Dynamics Group, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol)

  • Eckart Wrede

    (University of Durham)

  • Noah T. Goldberg

    (Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA)

  • Jianyang Zhang

    (Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA)

  • Daniel J. Miller

    (Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA)

  • Richard N. Zare

    (Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA)

Abstract

Tugging the hydrogen atoms A simple and much-studied example of vibrationally inelastic collisions is the crashing of a hydrogen atom into a deuterium molecule. The conventional view of the process is that transient compression of the D–D bond gives rise to vibrational excitation, then the colliding partners scatter backwards. Surprisingly, experiments now reveal a different inelastic scattering mechanism. Greaves et al. observed vibrational excitation even in collisions where the two species merely graze each other. They attribute this to extension of the D–D bond through interaction with the passing H atom. This tug-of-war mechanism should be at play whenever attraction can develop between colliding partners.

Suggested Citation

  • Stuart J. Greaves & Eckart Wrede & Noah T. Goldberg & Jianyang Zhang & Daniel J. Miller & Richard N. Zare, 2008. "Vibrational excitation through tug-of-war inelastic collisions," Nature, Nature, vol. 454(7200), pages 88-91, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7200:d:10.1038_nature07079
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07079
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    Cited by:

    1. Guodong Zhang & Dandan Lu & Min Cheng & Hua Guo & Hong Gao, 2024. "Frustrated charge transfer in vibrationally inelastic Ar++N2 collisions via hard collision glory scattering," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

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