Molecular eigenstates excitation intensities

The experimentally achievable localized excitations are typically described by one of the zero-order basis states (see Section 3.2), which are eigenstates of a part of the total molecular Hamiltonian. Localization can be in a part of the molecule or, more abstractly, in state space . The localized excitations are often described by extremely bad quantum numbers. The evolution of initially localized excitations is often more complex and fascinating than an exponential decay into a nondescript bath or continuum in which all memory of the nature of the initial excitation is monotonically lost. The terms in the effective Hamiltonian that give birth to esoteric details of a spectrum, such as fine structure, lambda doubling, quantum interference effects (both lineshapes and transition intensity patterns), and spectroscopic perturbations, are the factors that control the evolution of an initially localized excitation. These factors convey causality and mechanism rather than mere spectral complexity. 

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