A spectral analysis method of obtaining molecular spectra from classical trajectories

Abstract

Vibrational classical trajectories of anharmonic molecules are used here to obtain the classical vibrational autocorrelation function and, via a Fourier transform, the power (or infrared) spectrum of the dynamical variables. In the vibrationally quasiperiodic regime the spectrum consists of sharp lines, for any given initial amplitude. The initial amplitudes are chosen semiclassically. The spectral lines are compared with quantum mechanical calculations for systems with two and three coordinates, with excellent agreement. The method is also useful for obtaining a classical spectrum in the ergodic regime; the spectral lines are then ’’broad’’ rather than narrow. The method can be used in the analysis of trajectories for unimolecular reactions, infrared multiphoton dissociations, and for obtaining molecular spectra from force fields. The spectral analysis itself has implications for the theory of unimolecular reactions.