Intercollisional interference at low temperatures

Abstract

The intercollisional interference dip in the Q-branch of the fundamental band of collision-induced spectra of H2–He mixtures partially fills in at low temperatures. In contradiction to claims that this ia a quantum effect, we show 1. that if the induced dipole moment is exactly proportional to the intermolecular force then the interference dip goes to zero at all temperatures; 2. that the filling-in of the dip is essentially a classical phenomenon and is due mainly to the discontinuity in the distance of closest approach during binary collisions as a function of impact parameter.