Spectra in the chaotic region: Methods for extracting dynamic information

Abstract

Nonlinear dynamics is applied to chaotic unassignable atomic and molecular spectra with the aim of extracting detailed information about regular dynamic motions that exist over short intervals of time. It is shown how this motion can be extracted from high resolution spectra by doing low resolution studies or by Fourier transforming limited regions of the spectrum. These motions mimic those of periodic orbits (PO) and are inserts into the dominant chaotic motion. Considering these inserts and the PO as a dynamically decoupled region of space, resonant scattering theory and stabilization methods enable us to compute ladders of resonant states which interact with the chaotic quasicontinuum computed in principle from basis sets placed off the PO. The interaction of the resonances with the quasicontinuum explains the low resolution spectra seen in such experiments. It also allows one to associate low resolution features with a particular PO. The motion on the PO thereby supplies the molecular movements whose quantization causes the low resolution spectra. Characteristic properties of the periodic orbit based resonances are discussed. The method is illustrated on the photoabsorption spectrum of the hydrogen atom in a strong magnetic field and on the photodissociation spectrum of H+3 . Other molecular systems which are currently under investigation using this formalism are also mentioned.