Induced dipole frame distortion

Besides the isotropic overlap-induced dipole component familiar from the rare gas pairs, we will now in general have other significant induced dipole components if molecules are present, namely multipole-induced and distorted frame-induced dipole components, see Chapter 4 for details. Moreover, these anisotropic dipole components couple with the polarizability tensor and thus give rise to simultaneous transitions in two (or perhaps more) molecules. Furthermore, molecules in general interact with more or less anisotropic forces which to some extent does also affect the spectra of molecular systems. 

The profiles of the rototranslational absorption of CH4-CH4 in the far infrared have been reported [56] see Fig. 3.22 for an example. The treatment of the spectra is based on the multipolar induction model and an advanced isotropic potential empirical overlap-induced dipole components have also been included for fitting the experimental data at several temperatures (126 through 300 K). At the lower temperatures, satisfactory fits of the measurements are possible. The analysis seems to suggest that at temperatures near room temperature a significant rotation-induced distortion of the tetrahedral frames occurs which affects the properties of the individual molecules (multipole strengths, molecular symmetry, polarizabilities, and perhaps the interaction). 

It is well known that the tetrahedral frame of the CH4 molecule is easily distorted. If the tetrahedral frame of CH4 were robust, the purely rotational infrared spectra of CH4 would not exist. However, even at temperatures as low as room temperature, the CH4 molecule features hundreds of very weak, dipole-allowed rotovibrational lines at frequencies from 42 to 208 cm-1, the so-called groundstate to groundstate (gs—>gs) transitions. Moreover, more than 1500 weak, dipole-allowed transitions exist within the polyad system v /v — 1/2/1, at frequencies from 14 to 500 cm-1 [42]. These allowed transitions arise from distortions of the tetrahedral frame by rotation and the internal dynamics of the CH4 molecule, due to the coupling of normal modes of the flexible CH4 frame. Collisional frame distortion should probably be associated with unresolved gs— gs and similar polyad bands. Some evidence of such collision-induced bands of CH4 in CH4-X complexes has been pointed out [39-41]. Besides these collision-induced bands that presumably are due to collisional frame distortion of CH4, fairly significant, unexplained collision-induced bands also exist that are shaped by rotovibrational transitions of the collisional partner X = H2, N2, or CH4, and by double transitions of the bimolecular CH4-X complex [39-41]. 

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