Vibrational energy loss of NO molecules colliding with gold
In plain words
Highly vibrating NO molecules bouncing off a gold surface lose most of their vibration by exciting electrons in the metal. The two main theories disagree with each other and with the measured amount of energy lost.
Precise statement
For NO($v_{i}=3$ and $v_{i}=16$) scattering from Au(111) at incidence energies 0.05 to 1 eV, compute the final vibrational distribution $P(v_{f})$ and its dependence on incidence energy and orientation, and identify which treatment of nonadiabatic electron-hole pair excitation (electronic friction, independent-electron surface hopping, or a many-body treatment of the NO- anion state) reproduces the measured multiquantum relaxation. An answer is a first-principles calculation matching $P(v_{f})$ within experimental error for both initial states.
What would settle it
First-principles nonadiabatic scattering calculations with an accurate NO/Au potential and anion state that reproduce the state-to-state molecular-beam data.