Comparison of an ab initio calculation of the CO-Ar P(2) line shape with high-resolution measurements.

A practical matrix-based formalism for solving the master equation for a spectral line is applied to the P(2) transition in the fundamental band of carbon monoxide perturbed by argon. The method assumes that the effect of intermolecular collisions on the internal relaxation of the molecules is uncorrelated with the effect of those collisions on the translational motion of the molecules. Comparison with high-resolution line shape measurements reveals that at low pressures, the omission of statistical correlation leads to a miscalculation of the shape of the line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]