Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Daniel, Fabien
• Dubernet, Marie-Lise
• Grosjean, Alain

Titel

Rotational excitation of 45 levels of ortho/para-H2O by excited ortho/para-H2 from 5K to 1500K: state-to-state, effective and thermalized rate coefficients

Ist Teil von

• Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin), 2011 (536)

Ort / Verlag

EDP Sciences

Erscheinungsjahr

2011

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Aims. This work deals with the rotational excitation of ortho/para-H2O with para/ortho-H2 so that thermalized de-(excitation) rate coefficients up to 1500 K for the first 45th level of ortho/para-H2O are provided. Results are available in BASECOL with state-to-state rate coefficients, their fitting coefficients, and effective rate coefficients. In addition, we provide a routine that combines all data in order to create thermalized rate coefficients.Methods. Calculations were performed with the close coupling (CC) method over the whole energy range, using the same 5D potential energy surface (PES) as the one employed in previous papers. The current CC results were compared with thermalized quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) calculations using the same PES and with previous quantum calculations obtained between T = 20 K and T = 140 K with a different PES. The relative strengths of water excitation rate coefficients when water is excited with ortho-H2 versus para-H2 was also analyzed.Results. For collision with para-H2, the rotation-rotation process is found to be the dominant process for inelastic transfer for some water transitions, implying that calculations must include the j2 = 2 level. An important result of this paper is that j2 = 1 and j2 = 2 effective rate coefficients are very similar so that either j2 = 1 or j2 = 2 need to be calculated for astrophysical applications. In addition, at high temperature ratios of j2 = 2 (1) over j2 = 0, effective rate coefficients converge towards one to within a few percent. This study confirms that j2 = 3 effective rate coefficients are within 20% to j2 = 1 effective rate coefficients.Conclusions. For astrophysical applications, these results imply that future collisional excitation of light molecules with H2 should be carried out with para-H2, including j2 = 2, so as to obtain correct effective j2 = 0 effective rate coefficients and using the j2 = 2 effective rate coefficients for all excited j2 effective rate coefficients. In contrast, collisional excitation of heavy molecules with H2 might be restricted to para-H2 with j2 = 0 and to ortho-H2 with j2 = 1, using the j2 = 1 rate coefficients for all excited j2 effective rate coefficients. These conclusions should simplify the future methodological choice for collisional excitation calculations applied to interstellar/circumstellar media.