Characterization of Possible Minima and Stationary Points

Hobza et al. considered a different sort of geometry altogether. Their stacked structure places the planes of the two water molecules parallel to one another. The O atoms are directly above one another, and similarly for the two hydrogens in the parallel an-angement in Fig. 4.6.a. 

Smith ct al. also reinvestigated the question of the trifurcated structure and found it to be a second-order saddle point, nearly 2 kcal/mol higher in energy than the minimum. 

This work reinforced the notion that the potential energy surface is rather flat, not sur- 

Further examination by Marsden et al. of the namre of the bifurcated structure applied a basis set containing three sets of diffuse functions, along with a doubly polarized quadruple- valence set, amounting to 146 contracted Gaussians. These workers concluded that 

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