V-RT transfer: A study of two opposing dynamic constraints

A procedure for the estimation of the relative rates of energy transfer among the vibrotational states of a diatomic molecule in a nonreactive collision is presented. It is found that these rates are dominated by two opposing dynamical constraints: 1. Inertia of the linear momentum of the relative motion. 2. The tendency to conserve the molecular angular momentum. The detailed product distributions are constructed by a procedure which maximizes the entropy of the density matrix subject to the dynamical constraints. The results are compared to experimental measurements and quantum mechanical calculations.