THE H-2-NE INTERACTION

New measurements of the elastic and rotationally inelastic differential cross sections for the Ne-D2, Ne-H2 system are compared with exact and approximate quantum calculations. The three most recent high quality, semiempirical interaction potentials available in the literature for the Ne-H2 system yield consistent theoretical scattering cross sections for Ne-H2 and for Ne-D2. They also agree with previous and with present inelastic cross section measurements for D 2. However, the theory underestimates by 30% the newly measured rotational excitation in Ne-H2 collisions discussed here. We therefore propose a new potential with a modified repulsive barrier that succeeds in describing both Ne-D2 and Ne-H2 rotationally inelastic scattering experiments for j-0→j′=2 within an accuracy of a few percent. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.