Molecular theory of collision induced fine-structure transitions in atomic oxygen

A molecular theory, based on a gauge theory formulation of the method of perturbed stationary states, of collision induced fine-structure transitions in atomic oxygen is presented. We apply the theory to calculate the excitation of the 3PJ=0,1,2 levels of ground state atomic oxygen by collision with oxygen atoms. Cross sections for collision energies in range from 25 to 100 meV are presented. We discuss the relationships between this, and previous molecular theories