Quenching cross sections for alkali-inert gas collisions

The cross sections for quenching the lowest n2P states of the alkali atoms Li, Na, K, and Rb by the inert gases He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe are presented for 5 eV <= Esub(c.m.) <= 100 eV. These cross sections are derived from the corresponding cross sections for collisional excitation by applying the principle of microreversibility. Upper estimates for the quenching cross sections at thermal energies are given; in all studied cases the quenching cross sections are < 8 x 10-3 Agstroem2. These new upper limits are in most cases much lower than those obtained from other methods previously. (orig.)