OPTICAL-FIELD-INDUCED PENDULAR STATES AND PENDULAR BAND CONTOURS IN SYMMETRICAL TOPS

The pendular states that arise from the interaction between a polariza ble symmetric top and a strong, polarized optical field are investigat ed. Analytical solutions to the Schrodinger equation for this situatio n are presented corresponding to the limit of large field-polarizabili ty interaction. The eigenfunctions and eigenvalues obtained an used to explore the manifestations of pendular states in nonlinear Raman and electric-dipole-allowed spectroscopies-that is, pendular band contours . The theoretical expectations regarding pendular band contours are co mpared with direct numerical simulations of the contours and with expe rimental results from nonlinear Raman spectroscopy on benzene-Ar and n aphthalene trimer. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.