Dynamical theory of vibrational state population distribution in electronic-to-vibrational energy transfer. Application to Hg*-sensitized IR fluorescence of diatomics

Quenching of electronic excitation by collisional transfer into vibration is quantitatively treated, assuming sudden release of the excitation near the classical turning point. For the Hg*-sensitized IR fluorescence of CO, the calculated vibrational distribution reproduces the experimental results of Polanyi et al.