Model analysis of rotationally inelastic Ar + H2O scattering in an electric field.

We develop an analytic model of thermal state-to-state rotationally inelastic collisions of asymmetric-top molecules with closed-shell atoms in electric fields and apply it to the Ar-H(2)O collision system. The predicted cross sections as well as the steric asymmetry of the collisions show at fields up to 150 kV/cm characteristic field-dependent features which can be experimentally tested. Particularly suitable candidates for such tests are the 0(00) --> 2(20) and 1(01) --> 2(21) channels, arising from the relaxation of the field-free selection rules due to the hybridization of J states by the field. Averaging over the M' product channels is found to largely obliterate the orientation effects brought about by the field.