‖m l‖ changing in collisions between xenon Rydberg atoms and CO2

Thermal energy collisions between xenon Rydberg atoms in n = 31, l≳3, ‖ml‖≳3 states, and CO2 are reported. The rate constant is derived for those collisions which result in a change in ‖ml‖. The value so obtained is similar to that obtained earlier for Xe(nf)–CO2 collisions resulting in a change in l. It is argued that these observations imply that collisions result in simultaneous changes in l and ‖ml‖.