V. Bernshtein et al., TEMPORAL DEPENDENCE OF COLLISIONAL ENERGY-TRANSFER BY QUASI-CLASSICALTRAJECTORY CALCULATIONS OF THE TOLUENE-ARGON SYSTEM, Journal of physical chemistry, 99(13), 1995, pp. 4531-4535
The average energy transferred per collision and its dependence on col
lision duration were evaluated by using quasiclassical trajectory calc
ulations with valance force field intramolecular potential for toluene
and pairwise Lennard-Jones intermolecular potential for argon-toluene
interactions. The average energy transferred in up, down, and overall
collisions were sorted according to the duration of the collisions. I
t was found that, on average, collision durations, for collisions last
ing longer than zero, are 0.68 and 0.23 ps at 300 and 1500 K, respecti
vely, and this is the time in which energy transfer takes place. Most
collisions of duration longer than 0 are impulsive, and the number of
complex-forming collisions is negligible. The average minimal distance
at which the collisional event manifests itself in internal energy ch
ange in the molecule is similar to 0.31 nm at both 300 and 1500 K. One
in 800 collisions is a supercollision. The implications of these find
ings on energy transfer models are discussed.