The photodissociation of hydrogen iodide: Is it adiabatic?

Abstract

The assumption that the photodissociation of HI proceeds adiabatically is re-examined in the context of recently calculated alignment parameters, a₀⁽²⁾(\perp), for the ground state halogen atoms resulting from photodissociation of the analogous HCl and HBr molecules. The a₀⁽²⁾(\perp) alignment parameters for HCl, HBr, and HI are determined from time-dependent quantum mechanical wave packet calculations based on the best available ab initio electronic structure for each molecule. The experimental measurement of the alignment of the I(²P_3/2) atoms is proposed as a stringent test of whether the photodissociation is adiabatic or involves non-adiabatic coupling of the A¹Pi₁ and a³Pi₁ electronic states.

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Last updated Sept.5, 2007.