On the sudden approximation of cross: computational tests and factorization of cross sections and related scattering phenomena

A sudden approximation recently derived by Cross using a semiclassical treatment of the orbital motion is recast into a form which permits factorization of differential and integral degeneracy averaged cross sections, opacities as a function of final angular momentum quantum number, the scattering amplitude, and the phenomenological cross section which describes spectral line broadening. Calculations are done using an average of initial and final orbital angular momentum quantum numbers for the partial wave parameter for ArN₂, ArTIF, H⁺H₂ and Li⁺H₂. The results indicate that the method is a good approximation for integral cross sections and opacities when the energy sudden approximation is valid and when the coupling of the orbital motion is important.