Abstract

The vibrational relaxation of the first excited bending state of D2O induced by collision with He is studied at the close coupling level and using the Rigid Bender approximation. A new 4D potential energy surface is calculated and reported for this system. It is then used to determine the low-lying bound states of the D2O-He van der Waals complex and to perform scattering calculations. Collision rates are determined for pure rotational transitions as well as for rovibrational transitions within the first excited bending state. The results are compared with those obtained for the collision of D2O with other noble gases such as Ne and Ar. We also analyse the differences observed with respect to the H2O+He collisions and compare our results with experiment.