Energy levels rotational motion

Electronic structure theory describes the motions of the electrons and produces energy surfaces and wavefiinctions. The shapes and geometries of molecules, their electronic, vibrational and rotational energy levels, as well as the interactions of these states with electromagnetic fields lie within the realm of quantum stnicture theory. 

The Seetion entitled The BasiC ToolS Of Quantum Mechanics treats the fundamental postulates of quantum meehanies and several applieations to exaetly soluble model problems. These problems inelude the eonventional partiele-in-a-box (in one and more dimensions), rigid-rotor, harmonie oseillator, and one-eleetron hydrogenie atomie orbitals. The eoneept of the Bom-Oppenheimer separation of eleetronie and vibration-rotation motions is introdueed here. Moreover, the vibrational and rotational energies, states, and wavefunetions of diatomie, linear polyatomie and non-linear polyatomie moleeules are diseussed here at an introduetory level. This seetion also introduees the variational method and perturbation theory as tools that are used to deal with problems that ean not be solved exaetly. 

The rotational motion of a linear polyatomic molecule can be treated as an extension of the diatomic molecule case. One obtains the Yj m (0,(1)) as rotational wavefunctions and, within the approximation in which the centrifugal potential is approximated at the equilibrium geometry of the molecule (Re), the energy levels are ... 

All of these time correlation functions contain time dependences that arise from rotational motion of a dipole-related vector (i.e., the vibrationally averaged dipole P-avejv (t), the vibrational transition dipole itrans (t) or the electronic transition dipole ii f(Re,t)) and the latter two also contain oscillatory time dependences (i.e., exp(icofv,ivt) or exp(icOfvjvt + iAEi ft/h)) that arise from vibrational or electronic-vibrational energy level differences. In the treatments of the following sections, consideration is given to the rotational contributions under circumstances that characterize, for example, dilute gaseous samples where the collision frequency is low and liquid-phase samples where rotational motion is better described in terms of diffusional motion. 

The eigenfunetions of J2, Ja (or Jc) and Jz elearly play important roles in polyatomie moleeule rotational motion they are the eigenstates for spherieal-top and symmetrie-top speeies, and they ean be used as a basis in terms of whieh to expand the eigenstates of asymmetrie-top moleeules whose energy levels do not admit an analytieal solution. These eigenfunetions J,M,K> are given in terms of the set of so-ealled "rotation matrices" whieh are denoted Dj m,k ... 

For reactions between atoms, the computation needs to model only the translational energy of impact. For molecular reactions, there are internal energies to be included in the calculation. These internal energies are vibrational and rotational motions, which have quantized energy levels. Even with these corrections included, rate constant calculations tend to lose accuracy as the complexity of the molecular system and reaction mechanism increases. 

As in Section 5.2.4 on rotational spectra of asymmetric rotors, we do not treat this important group of molecules in any detail, so far as their rotational motion is concerned, because of the great complexity of their rotational energy levels. Nevertheless, however complex the stack associated with the v = 0 level, there is a very similar stack associated with each excited vibrational level. The selection mles for transitions between the rotational stacks of the vibrational levels are also complex but include... 

At low energies, the rotational and vibrational motions of molecules can be considered separately. The simplest model for rotational energy levels is the rigid dumbbell with quantized angular momentum. It has a series of rotational levels having energy... 

The above treatment has made some assumptions, such as harmonic frequencies and sufficiently small energy spacing between the rotational levels. If a more elaborate treatment is required, the summation for the partition functions must be carried out explicitly. Many molecules also have internal rotations with quite small barriers, hi the above they are assumed to be described by simple harmonic vibrations, which may be a poor approximation. Calculating the energy levels for a hindered rotor is somewhat complicated, and is rarely done. If the barrier is very low, the motion may be treated as a free rotor, in which case it contributes a constant factor of RT to the enthalpy and R/2 to the entropy. 

For the ideal gas, only the lowest translational, rotational, vibrational, and electronic energy level is occupied at zero Kelvin.8 When energy is added to increase the temperature, it is distributed among the different types of energy levels. Thus, some of the energy increases the translational motion and is... 

Microwave spectroscopy The study of the interaction of microwave radiation with the rotational motion of a molecule. Microwave transitions are not restricted to molecules and can occur in atoms whenever the separation between the energy levels is in the microwave region of the spectrum. 

Molecules translate, rotate and vibrate at any temperature (except absolute zero), jumping between the requisite quantum-mechanically allowed energy levels. We call the common pool of energy enabling translation, rotation and vibration the thermal energy . In fact, we can now rephrase the statement on p. 34, and say that temperature is a macroscopic manifestation of these motions. Energy can be readily distributed and redistributed at random between these different modes. 

Figure 1.4 The very anharmonic energy levels of the C6H6 - Ar stretch motion (cf. Figure 0.3) (adapted from Neusser, Sussman, Smith, Riedle, and Weber, 1992). The computed values of the rotational constant Bv [the coefficient of 1(1+1) in the expression for the energy eigenvalues] are given in the figure, as are the vibrational spacings.

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