IS THE (C)OVER-TILDE STATE OF CH2 LINEAR OR BENT

The (c) over tilde state of CH2 is found to be bent at the highest lev els of theory used in this work, but the energy difference between the linear and bent geometries is only about 10 cm(-1). Improving the bas is set or correlation treatment favors the linear geometry over the be nt, thus it is impossible to definitively determine if the (c) over ti lde state has a barrier in its bending potential. If there is a barrie r, it is clear that it will be so small that the (c) over tilde state will be quasilinear.