S Wallentowitz et al 2002 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 35 1967 doi:10.1088/0953-4075/35/8/313
S Wallentowitz1,5, I A Walmsley2,6, L J Waxer3 and Th Richter4
Show affiliationsWe present an analytical calculation that predicts the collapse of vibrational wavepackets in molecules due to the coupling of the rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom. At longer times a new class of revivals is predicted in the vibrational degree of freedom, due to the finite size and discrete nature of the rotational reservoir. The interplay of these competing behaviours is studied in the context of current experiments, and conditions for observing the revivals are described. Furthermore, the conditions for which the molecular vibration and rotation can be regarded as a system and its reservoir-like environment are described, in which case the ro-vibrational coupling can be considered effectively as a mechanism for decoherence of the vibrational motion. Comparison of the dephasing time predicted by this model with that observed in recent experiments is made.
33.15.Mt Rotation, vibration, and vibration-rotation constants
03.65.Yz Decoherence; open systems; quantum statistical methods
Issue 8 (28 April 2002)
Received 18 March 2002
Published 10 April 2002
S Wallentowitz et al 2002 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 35 1967
H E Boos and V E Korepin 2001 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 34 5311
S Roundy and P K Wright 2004 Smart Mater. Struct. 13 1131
Elisa Mele et al 2005 Nanotechnology 16 2714
J A Venables et al 2006 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 18 S411
James L Bedford et al 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 N167
A E Carte 1961 Proc. Phys. Soc. 77 757
Sergey Y Yurish et al 2005 Meas. Sci. Technol. 16 1660
Gary J Nutt 1996 Distrib. Syst. Engng. 3 276
Wang Ren-Guo and Long Zhang-Cai 2007 Chinese Phys. Lett. 24 275