Relaxation dynamics search times

Equation. (24)], suggests that the intermediate relaxation may be hydro-dynamic in origin. If q is indeed related to hydrodynamic effects, it seems unlikely that this decay time is related to population relaxation of the inter-molecular modes. Thus we must search for another cause. 

Dynamic solvent effect — is a phenomenon typical for adiabatic -> electron transfer and -> proton transfer reactions. This effect is responsible for a dependence of the reaction rate on solvent relaxation parameters. The initial search for a dynamic solvent effect (conventionally assumed to be a feature of reaction adiabatic-ity) consisted in checking the viscosity effect. However, this approach can lead to controversial conclusions because the viscosity cannot be varied without changing the -> permittivity, i.e. a dynamic solvent effect cannot be unambiguously separated from a -> static solvent effect [i]. Typically a slower solvent relaxation goes along with a higher permittivity, and the interplay of the two solvents effects can easily look as if either of them is weaker. The problems of theoretical treatment of the dynamic solvent effect of solvents having several relaxation times are considered in refs, [ii-iii]. 

---