The ability to morph electrostatic plasma turbulence into electromagnetic has promising applications, including the possibility of actively influencing the near-Earth plasma state, aka the space weather. This dual (electrostatic/electromagnetic) nature is a fundamental property of plasma turbulence, which has not been well explored but could explain many phenomena including the formation of a resonant cavity that can amplify the turbulence energy. The upcoming Space Measurement of A Rocket-Released Turbulence (SMART) mission is designed to understand the evolution of plasma turbulence and the nonlocal consequences of its dual nature. This includes the flow of energy into all possible wavelengths, as well as the transport of energy over a large geographical volume. The resulting energy redistribution in both waves and particles in an extended geographical volume creates a unique electromagnetic environment, which is important for space weather.

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Scattering matrix elements of the inelastic fine structure transition M(P) + Ng ↔ M(P) + Ng are computed using the channel packet method (CPM) for alkali-metal atoms M = K, Rb, and Cs, as they collide with noble-gas atoms Ng = He, Ne, and Ar. The calculations are performed within the block Born-Oppenheimer approximation where excited state V(R), V(R), and V(R) adiabatic potential energy surfaces are used together with a Hund's case (c) basis to construct a 6 × 6 diabatic representation of the electronic Hamiltonian. Matrix elements of the angular kinetic energy of the nuclei incorporate Coriolis coupling and, together with the diabatic representation of the electronic Hamiltonian, yield a 6 × 6 effective potential energy matrix. This matrix is diagonal in the asymptotic limit of large internuclear separation with eigenvalues that correlate to the P alkali atomic energy levels. Scattering matrix elements are computed using the CPM by preparing reactant and product wave packets on the effective potential energy surfaces that correspond to the excited P alkali states of interest. The reactant wave packet is then propagated forward in time using the split operator method together with a unitary transformation between the adiabatic and diabatic representations. The Fourier transformation of the correlation function between the evolving reactant wave packet and stationary product wave packet yields state-to-state scattering matrix elements as a function of energy for a particular choice of total angular momentum J. Calculations are performed for energies that range from 0.0 to 0.01 hartree and values of J that start with a minimum of J = 0.5 for all M + Ng pairs up to a maximum that ranges from J = 450.5 for KAr to J = 100.5 for CsAr. A sum over J together with an average over energy is used to compute thermally averaged cross sections for a temperature range of T = 0-400 K.

A method for calculating the analytic nonadiabatic derivative coupling terms (DCTs) for spin-orbit multi-reference configuration interaction wavefunctions is reviewed. The results of a sample calculation using a Stuttgart basis for KHe are presented. Additionally, the DCTs are compared with a simple calculation based on the Nikitin’s 3 × 3 description of the coupling between the Σ and Π surfaces, as well as a method based on Werner’s analysis of configuration interaction coefficients. The nonadiabatic coupling angle calculated by integrating the radial analytic DCTs using these different techniques matches extremely well. The resultant nonadiabatic energy surfaces for KHe are presented.

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