COLLISIONAL EXCITATION OF H-2-MOLECULES BY H-ATOMS

Semiclassical trajectory calculations of the rate coefficients for rot ational and vibrational energy transfer were carried out for collision s of hydrogen atoms with hydrogen molecules at a temperature of 1000 K , using three potential energy surfaces. For one surface the calculati ons were carried down to 200 K. The rate coefficients for reactive col lisions are similar for all three surfaces. For nonreactive collisions , rate coefficients for pure rotational transitions in which j changes from 0 to 2 and from 1 to 3 change significantly from one surface to another but for higher angular momenta transitions the differences ten d to disappear. The validity of the semiclassical calculations is asse ssed.