Linewidths of ammonia in collisions with He: Calculations from an ab initio potential

We present semiclassical calculations based on the Robert-Bonamy formalism of collisional broadening coefficients of ammonia by collision with He at room temperature. Calculations have been performed with the accurate ab initio potential of Hodges and Wheatley. The calculated line widths are compared to the available experimental data and a satisfactory agreement is found, although the model contains no adjustable parameters. However the calculations also exaggerate the K dependence of the broadenings, especially for lines with K = J − 1 or K = J.