A theoretical study of energy transfer in Ar(¹S) + SO₂( ') collisions: Cross sections and rate coefficients for...

Vibrational transitions, induced by collisions between rare-gas atoms and molecules, play a key role in many problems of interest in physics and chemistry. A theoretical investigation of the translation-to-vibration (T-V) energy transfer process in argon atom and sulfur dioxide molecule collisions is presented here. For such a purpose, the framework of the quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) methodology was followed over the range of translational energies 2 ≤ E_tr/kcal mol^-1 ≤ 100. A new realistic potential energy surface (PES) for the ArSO₂ system was developed using pairwise addition for the four-body energy term within the double many-body expansion. The topological features of the obtained function are compared with a previous one reported by Hippler et al. [J. Phys. Chem. 90, 6158 (1986)]. To test the accuracy of the PES, additional coupled cluster singles and doubles method with a perturbative contribution of connected triples calculations were carried out for the global minimum configuration. From dynamical calculations, the cross sections for the T-V excitation process indicate a barrier-type mechanism due to strong repulsive interactions between SO₂ molecules and the Ar atom. Corrections to zero-point energy leakage in QCT were carried out using vibrational energy quantum mechanical threshold of the complex and variations. Rate coefficients and cross sections are calculated for some vibrational transitions using pseudo-quantization approaches of the vibrational energy of products. Main attributes of the title molecular collision are discussed and compared with available information in the literature.