A new singlet ab initio potential energy surface for studying vibrational relaxation in O2(v)+O2 collisions

A new ab initio potential energy surface for the ground singlet state of the O2+O2 system has been calculated. Good agreement with experiment is obtained for the van der Waals binding energy. The vibrational dependence of the potential, crucial for vibrational energy transfer studies, is analyzed and compared with other potential energy surfaces by performing quantum scattering calculations of the vibrational relaxation of O2(v).