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Abstract

The vibrational energy transfer in Ar–O₃ collisions is investigated within the breathing sphere approximation. Ozone wave functions are calculated with a simplified potential energy surface and used in the close coupling scattering equations. Inelastic transition probabilities are determined for all bound states of O₃. Energy transfer is studied in one asymmetric, ¹⁶O¹⁶O¹⁸O, and two symmetric isotopomers, ¹⁶O¹⁶O¹⁶O and ¹⁶O¹⁸O¹⁶O. Two measures of the energy transfer are considered: Microcanonical deactivation for a fixed collision energy and thermal vibrational relaxation described by the master equation at a fixed temperature. In either case, the energy transfer is symmetry independent near the dissociation threshold and the sensitivity to symmetry grows as the ozone energy decreases.