Molecular systems complex energy quantization

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. 

Here E and E are the exact energies of the two individual molecules A and B when they are isolated, while E" is the exact energy of the supersystem (molecular complex, for example). Theoretically, these quantities can be obtained from the exact solution of the Schrodinger equation for the corresponding systems. (We remain within the nonrelativistic Born-Oppenheimer model.) This requires the definition of the Hamiltonians H", H and H" , and one feels challenged to handle these Hamiltonians in a common (e.g., perturbational) scheme. This point is not at all trivial especially if approximate model Hamiltonians are used. In what follows we shall consider this issue emphasizing the points where the second quantized approach can help to clarify the situation. 

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