Small Molecule Spectroscopy and Dynamics

Master the language of spectroscopists — a bewildering array of apparently capricious notation;

Develop facility with quantum mechanical models by which observed energy levels may be exactly matched by the eigenvalues of some effective Hamiltonian matrix which, in turn, is expressed in terms of a minimal number of adjustable parameters (molecular constants);

Predict the relative intensities and selection rules governing transitions between eigenstates, since spectra display only transition frequencies and not energy eigenvalues;

Learn how to assign spectra. It is not sufficient to know that there is a molecular eigenstate at a particular energy; it is necessary to know its quantum name as well. Spectral assignment is a topic that is neglected in all textbooks except those by Herzberg, yet it is the most important, difficulty, and frequently performed task of a spectroscopist.

Experimental techniques will not be discussed, except in the most superficial, photons-as-bullets formalism.