Spectra and Dynamics of Small Molecules [electronic resource] : Alexander von Humboldt Lectures / by Robert W. Field.

Preface -- Introduction -- Hierarchy of Terms in the Effective Hamiltonian -- Spectroscopic Perturbations: Homogeneous and Heterogeneous -- The Effective Hamiltonian for Diatomic Molecules -- Rotation of Polyatomic Molecules -- Quantum Beats.-  The Effective Hamiltonian for Polyatomic Molecule Vibration -- Intramolecular Dynamics: Representations ,Visualizations and Mechanisms.

These seven lectures are intended to serve as an introduction for beginning graduate students to the spectra of small molecules. The author succeeds in illustrating the concepts by using language and metaphors that capture and elegantly convey simple insights into dynamics that lie beyond archival molecular constants. The lectures can simultaneously be viewed as a collection of interlocking special topics that have fascinated the author and his students over the years. Though neither a textbook nor a scholarly monograph, the book provides an illuminating perspective that will benefit students and researchers alike.