The present volume is concerned with two of the central questions of chemical dynamics. What do we know about the energies of interaction of atoms and molecules with each other and with solid surfaces? How can such interaction energies be used to understand and make quantitative predictions about dynamical processes like scattering, energy transfer, and chemical reactions? It is becoming clearly recognized that the computer is leading to rapid progress in answering these questions. The computer allows probing dynamical mechanisms in fine detail and often allows us to answer questions that cannot be addressed with current experimental techniques. As we enter the 1980's, not only are more powerful and faster computers being used, but techniques and methods have been honed to a state where exciting and reliable data are being generated on a variety of systems at an unprecedented pace. The present volume presents a collection of work that illustrates the capabilities and some of the successes of this kind of computer-assisted research. In a 1978 Chemical Society Report, Frey and Walsh pointed out that "it is extremely doubtful if a calculated energy of activation for any unimolecular decomposition can replace an experimental deter mination. " However they also recorded that they "believe[d] that some of the elaborate calculations being performed at present do suggest that we may be approaching a time when a choice between reaction mechanisms will be helped by such [computational] work.

Providing several examples, this book describes fundamental methods and techniques specific for efficient exploration on the potential energy surface by quantum chemical calculations.

Potential Energy Surfaces is a collection of lectures given at the 1996 Mariapfarr Workshop in Theoretical Chemistry, organized by Alexander F. Sax. The Mariapfarr Workshops' aim is to discuss in-depth topics in Theoretical Chemistry. The target group of these workshops is graduate students and postdocs.

At the American Chemical Society meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., a symposium was organized entitled, "Comparison of Ab Initio Quantum Chemistry with Experiment: State-of-the-Art." The intent of the symposium was to bring together forefront experimen talists, who perform the types of clean, penetrating experiments that are amenable to thorough theoretical analysis, with inventive theore ticians who have developed high accuracy ab initio methods that are capable of competing favorably with experiment, to assess the current applicability of theoretical methods in chemistry. Contributions from many of those speakers (see Appendix A) plus others selected for their expertise in the subject are contained in this volume. Such a book is especially timely, since with the recent develop ment of new, more accurate and powerful ab initio methods coupled with the exceptional progress achieved in computational equipment, ab initio quantum chemistry is now often able to offer a third voice to resolve experimental discrepancies, assist essentially in the interpre tation of experiments, and frequently, provide quantitatively accurate results for molecular properties that are not available from experiment.