Collision cross section of rotational transition caused by the dipole–quadrupole interaction between CHF3 and nonpolar molecules

The collision cross section of rotational transition J=0→1 in the CHF3 molecule caused by nonpolar perturbers has been measured. The observed cross sections depend linearly on (mQ22)1/3, where Q2 is the quadrupole moment of the perturber and m is the reduced mass of the colliding molecules. Calculations based on the Murphy-Boggs theory using the dipole-quadrupole and first order dispersion interactions for a description of CHF3+C2H2, C6H6, CO2, O2 collisions are in qualitative agreement with the experimental results. The theoretical values are in general lower than the experimental values, and especially in the case of O2 collisions, the first order dispersion interaction contributes largely to the collision cross section.