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........ published in NEWSLETTER # 54
COLLISION_ AND INTERACTION_INDUCED SPECTROSCOPY
by Dr. G.C. Tabisz, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg (Canada), and Dr. M.N. Neuman, Okanagan University College, Kelowna (Canada)
Collision or interaction_induced spectroscopy refers to radiative transitions which are forbidden in free atoms or molecules but which occur in clusters of interacting atoms or molecules. The most common phenomena are induced absorption in the infrared region and induced light scattering in the visible. Information on atomic and molecular interactions and dynamics on a picosecond time_scale may be drawn from the spectra.
This book (NATO ASI SERIES C452) contains papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Induced Spectroscopy and Applications, held from 30 August to 3 September, 1993 in Banff (Canada). The volume consists of contributions from most of the major researchers in the various subfields of induced spectroscopy and demonstrates the wide range of relevance of induced spectroscopic methods. The development of the subject is an excellent example of the benefits of interdisciplinary efforts among physicists, chemists and astrophysicists.
Fundamental aspects of induced spectroscopy are studied through spectra of gases, liquids and solids composed of small, highly symmetric molecules. Recent activity has resulted in a deeper understanding of intermolecular interaction mechanisms and has led, for example, to quantitative information on irreducible three_body interactions. Equally striking has been the progress in the application of induced spectroscopy to the elucidation of more general scientific problems. This endeavour has produced refined calculations of intermolecular potentials, sophisticated structural and dynamical models of liquids and dense gases, and advanced lineshape theories which account for collisional interference effects and inelastic collisions. Novel applications include induced spectra of van der Waals dimers and of species trapped in zeolites and fullerenes, and the modelling of planetary and stellar atmospheres.
Most of the papers are given in review format with extensive bibliographies and should be of interest, and be accessible to the expert and neophyte alike.
Other volumes in the NATO series which provide background material relevant to the present volume are B127, "Phenomena Induced by Molecular Interactions", and C135 "Molecular Liquids: Dynamics and Interactions".
Reference books: B127, C135, C452