Improved collisional excitation rates for interstellar water

Theoretical rate constants among the lowest 45 para and 45 ortho rotational levels of water in collisions with He atoms have been calculated for temperatures between 20 and 2000 K using a recently improved theoretical interaction potential. These values are about 30-40 percent larger than those reported previously but relative sizes of different state-to-state rates have not changed significantly. Successive improvements to the theoretical description of this system now appear to have converged.