Theoretical studies of rovibrational quenching in atom-diatom collisions: New results on old problems

Accurate rotational and vibrational deexcitation rate coefficients due to molecular collisions are necessary for the interpretation of observations of interstellar gas from the microwave to the infrared (IR). The far-IR and submillimeter are particularly useful for studying the formation of stars, from nearby nebulae to high-redshift galaxies, which are current observational targets for the Herschel Space Observatory and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Astrophysical models rely heavily on theoretical estimates due to the difficulty of direct measurements of collisional rate coefficients. We report on our recent calculations of cross sections and rate coefficients for state-to-state transitions of CO induced by H collisions and HCl and HF induced by He collisions using quantum coupled-channel methods. In particular, issues related to the accuracy of potential energy surfaces, the effect of vibrational excitation on pure rotational quenching, and scalings by rotation, vibration, and chemical similarity will be discussed.