Theory of excitation transfer in collisions between alkali atoms. I. Identical partners

Abstract

A mechanism is derived for nonresonant transfer of electronic excitation energy, induced in the process M*(2P3/2) + M(2S1/2) → M*(2P1/2) + M(2S1/2), where M and M* are identical alkali atoms in the ground and first excited states, respectively. Various types of interactions, responsible for the nonadiabatic combination of electronic states of the quasi molecule M2*, were considered, and their respective contributions to the cross section for excitation transfer were determined.