Classical trajectory analysis in atom-triatom collisions: continuous quantization and scaling behaviour

Abstract

A method of analysing classical trajectory data, based on recently derived scaling principles, is applied to a model atom-triatom collinear collision system. Apart from the utility of the scaling idea in extending trajectory computations, the analysis of the scaling coefficients in terms of transition probabilities increases the scope of the classical scaling theory as a means of obtaining (at the very least) qualitative quantum-mechanical information from classical trajectories. As an useful adjunct, the method of continuous quantization is applied to generate approximate transition probabilities. These results are semiquantitative; thus a combination of classical scaling and continuous quantization affords a powerful means of modeling complex collision cases with a minimum of computational effort.