Rovibrational product state distribution for inelastic H+D2 collisions

Experimental measurements of rovibrational product state distributions for the inelastic scattering process H+D-2(nu=0,j)-->H+D-2(nu(')=1,2,j(')) are presented and compared with the results of quasiclassical and quantum mechanical calculations. Agreement between theory and experiment is almost quantitative. Two subtle trends are found: the relative amount of energy in product rotational excitation decreases slightly with increasing collision energy and increases slightly with increasing product vibrational excitation. These trends are the reverse of what has been found for reactive scattering in which the opposite trends are much more pronounced. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.