Quantum-Mechanical Solution of the Collinear Atom–Diatomic Collision with a Linear Interaction Potential

The method of Shuler and Zwanzig is extended to treat the collinear collision of an atom interacting with a diatomic molecule by a linear finite-slope repulsive potential having an adjustable attractive step. The interaction potential has two parameters, one governing the strength of the repulsive portion and the other the strength of the attractive portion. Results for the system in which all particles have equal mass are presented for five different combinations of the potential parameters. In two of the cases the potential is strictly repulsive and in the other three it has an attractive well in addition to the linear repulsive wall. The presence of the attractive well causes resonances in the probability curves at certain energies corresponding to the formation of metastable “complexes.”