Potential Energy Surfaces of Oxygen Herzberg States During Collisions With Nitrogen
Presentation Type
Poster/Portfolio
Presenter Major(s)
Chemistry
Mentor Information
George McBane, mcbaneg@gvsu.edu
Department
Chemistry
Location
Henry Hall Atrium 88
Start Date
13-4-2011 2:00 PM
End Date
13-4-2011 3:00 PM
Keywords
Environment, Physical Science
Abstract
Photodissociation of ozone in the upper atmosphere is known to produce oxygen molecules in excited electronic states known as Herzberg states. These electronically excited oxygen molecules are removed through a largely unknown process involving collisions with gaseous nitrogen, probably resulting in oxygen molecules in the ground electronic state with very large amounts of vibrational energy. Investigation into this process is conducted through exploration of the potential energy surfaces of individual oxygen and nitrogen molecules in a variety of configurations. Potential energy surfaces are generated by electronic structure calculations carried out in the MolPro program. Potential energy surfaces constructed from the electronic structure calculations and conclusions about the collision dynamics indicated by these surfaces will be presented.
Potential Energy Surfaces of Oxygen Herzberg States During Collisions With Nitrogen
Henry Hall Atrium 88
Photodissociation of ozone in the upper atmosphere is known to produce oxygen molecules in excited electronic states known as Herzberg states. These electronically excited oxygen molecules are removed through a largely unknown process involving collisions with gaseous nitrogen, probably resulting in oxygen molecules in the ground electronic state with very large amounts of vibrational energy. Investigation into this process is conducted through exploration of the potential energy surfaces of individual oxygen and nitrogen molecules in a variety of configurations. Potential energy surfaces are generated by electronic structure calculations carried out in the MolPro program. Potential energy surfaces constructed from the electronic structure calculations and conclusions about the collision dynamics indicated by these surfaces will be presented.