The relaxation of vibrationally excited O2 molecules by atomic oxygen

A complete set of V-T (vibration-translation) relaxation rates of vibrationally excited oxygen molecules by parent atoms has been obtained by running quasiclassical trajectories on an accurate potential energy surface. The results have been validated by comparing them with old and new experimental data. Satisfactory agreement has been obtained with recent low temperature experimental data. Comparison with older rate coefficients obtained at higher temperature prompts the elaboration of new experiments not based on the application of models restricted to monoquantum transitions. It is in fact apparent from the calculations the importance of multiquantum processes. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.