Spectra and Dynamics of Coupled Vibrations in Polyatomic Molecules

1. During the last two decades Fourier transform and laser spectroscopy techniques have made high resolution infrared spectra close to the Doppler limit with the possibility of detailed rovibrational analysis much more easily accessible than before (4-7).. 2. The development of special techniques with greatly increased sensitivity has permitted the measurement of the weak spectra associated with high overtones of vibrations in the near infrared and visible (8-12). 3. The spectroscopy of molecules cooled to very low internal temperatures in supersonic free jet expansions has been used to obtain analyses of spectra for molecules and complexes, whose spectra at room temperature are much too complicated for analysis (13-17). 4. The understanding of the complex spectra of coupled vibrations has become important for newly developing fields of molecular reaction dynamics uch as infrared laser chemistry (18-22) or vibrational overtone photodissociation (23-26).