Quantum nature of molecular vibrational quenching: Water-molecular hydrogen collisions

Rates of conversions of molecular internal energy to and from kinetic energy by means of molecular collision allow us to compute collisional line shapes and transport properties of gases. Knowledge of ro-vibrational quenching rates is necessary to connect spectral observations to physical properties of warm astrophysical gasses, including exo-atmospheres. For a system of paramount importance in this context, the vibrational bending mode quenching of H₂O by H₂, we show here that the exchange of vibrational to rotational and kinetic energy remains a quantum process, despite the large numbers of quantum levels involved and the large vibrational energy transfer. The excitation of the quantized rotor of the projectile is by far the most effective ro-vibrational quenching path of water. To do so, we use a fully quantum first-principles computation, potential and dynamics, converging it at all stages, in a full coupled channel formalism. We present here rates for the quenching of the first bending mode of ortho-H₂O by ortho-H₂, up to 500 K, in a fully converged coupled channel formalism.