Stochastic classical trajectory approach to relaxation phenomena. I. Vibrational relaxation of impurity molecules in solid matrices

Mary Shugard*, John C. Tully, Abraham Nitzan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a theory of impurity vibrational relaxation in condensed media based on computer simulation of the classical equations of motion of the impurity molecule and a small number of neighboring host atoms. The host atoms are in communication with the remainder of the lattice through the presence of stochastic forces and damping terms that are constructed from knowledge of the phonon spectrum of the solid. Temperature is introduced via the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. The method is applied here to a Cl2 impurity molecule imbedded in an argon matrix. The dependence of energy relaxation and dephasing times on interaction parameters is monitored, and comparison is made with recent spectroscopic measurements on this system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)336-345
Number of pages10
JournalThe Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume69
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1978

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