Dynamics and spectroscopy of near threshold nonadiabatic resonances in photodissociation to open shell atoms: CH+ a model system

Abstract

Close-coupled theoretical calculations of the near threshold photodissociation of CH+ exhibit a wealth of structure. This structure arises because of the presence of nonadiabatic interactions which always exist and which are significant at large distances when molecules dissociate to open shell atoms. Detailed analysis of the calculated photodissociation spectrum, using an extensive set of theoretical diagnostics, displays a series of systematic trends in the spectrum which enable the assignment of resonance features in this extremely complicated spectrum. The results show how general spectroscopic principles may be used in analyzing this type of complicated structure, and our calculations provide general insight into the experimental data for the photodissociation of CH+. The theoretical calculations also indicate how additional assistance with analyzing experimental data can come from measurements of fragment kinetic energy, angular distributions, and polarizations.