Effects of anisotropic interaction on collision-induced absorption by pairs of linear molecules

Calculations of collision-induced absorption spectral moments γ₁ and α₁ for N₂ and CO₂ molecular pairs are presented which, for the first time, fully account for the anisotropic components of the intermolecular potentials. The results of these rigorous computations, performed at selected temperatures, are compared with approximations based on the perturbative approach and the infinite-order sudden approximation. In this way both important aspects of the effects of an anisotropic interaction and the ability of these two approximations to take them into account are demonstrated.