Neutral atom collisions significantly affect the continuous nature of black body radiation by shifting eigenfunctions and creating temporary dipoles. The van der Waals interaction plays a crucial role in polarizing atoms during these collisions, which alters energy levels compared to isolated atoms. Additionally, in certain collisions, atoms can form bound states, such as the recombination of chlorine atoms into Cl2 molecules, complicating the wave function representation. This interaction contributes to the continuous distribution of energy observed in monoatomic nonionized substances.
PREREQUISITESPhysicists, quantum mechanics students, and researchers interested in atomic interactions and black body radiation phenomena.
Yes to both. The van der Waals interaction leads to the polarisation of two atoms that are not too far from each other. This can be seen as shifting the energy levels with respect to the isolated atom.Getterdog said:Do neutral atom collisions shift the eigenfunctions,during the collisions? Do collisions create temporary dipoles?
Getterdog said:I’ve read everything I can here and in the stack exchange on the topic of the continuous nature of black body radiation and it’s been really helpful,but I’m lead now to this question. Do neutral atom collisions shift the eigenfunctions,during the collisions? Do collisions create temporary dipoles? I’m Assuming no free electrons,just collisions in neutral atoms.thanks jk
Does this then account for the more or less continuous distribution of energy for a monoatomic nonionized substance? Thanks jkhilbert2 said:In some collisions we can think of the wave function of the two-atom system as a product of the wave function for the internal motion in the atoms (relative position of electrons w.r.t. the nuclei) and a wave function for the center of mass motion of the atoms. Then you can model the collision in a way where the internal motion eigenstates change temporarily when the atoms get close enough to interact. In some other cases the two atoms can form a bound state, as in the recombination of two chlorine atoms to form a ##Cl_2## molecule - then you can't write the final state wavefunction in the same way as a combination of separate atoms because there's a covalent bond formed.