And concluding with some examples of polyatomic molecule dynamics. P Students will discover that there is a fascinating world of cause-and-effect localized dynamics concealed beyond the reduction of spectra to archival molecular constants and the exact ab initio computation of molecular properties.-

Perturbations in the Spectra of Diatomic Molecules examines in sufficient detail the spectrum of every diatomic molecule. This book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 describes the perturbations and simple procedures for evaluating matrix elements of angular momentum. The terms in the molecular Hamiltonian that are responsible for perturbations are elaborated in Chapter 2, while the process of reducing spectra to molecular constants and the difficulty of relating empirical parameters to terms in the exact molecular Hamiltonian are described in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 discusses the magnitudes and physical interpretations of matrix elements. The transition intensities, especially quantum mechanical interference effects, are reviewed in Chapter 5. The last two chapters are devoted to the two forms of perturbation—predissociation and autoionization. This publication is a good source for graduate students, theorists, experimentalists, and potential users of spectroscopic data.

These seven lectures are intended to serve as an introduction for beginning graduate students to the spectra of small molecules. The author succeeds in illustrating the concepts by using language and metaphors that capture and elegantly convey simple insights into dynamics that lie beyond archival molecular constants. The lectures can simultaneously be viewed as a collection of interlocking special topics that have fascinated the author and his students over the years. Though neither a textbook nor a scholarly monograph, the book provides an illuminating perspective that will benefit students and researchers alike.

The definitive text on the rotational spectroscopy of diatomic molecules.