Molecular frames for a symmetry-adapted rotational basis set

Abstract

In molecular ro-vibrational calculations, it is desirable to build a symmetry-adapted basis set where both the rotational and vibrational functions are each separately symmetrised. Enabling rotational symmetrisation requires the use of body-fixed frames whose rotations under molecular symmetry operations are constant. The familiar Eckart and Sayvetz frames are examples of such frames, as are bisector frames for certain molecules. In this work, we introduce alternative frames for CH3Cl-type molecules and C2H6 that can be used for rotational symmetrisation. These are defined by the vibrational coordinates without the need for a reference geometry. We also provide one method to find such frames. Finally, we state a straightforward transformation of the s-vectors when changing frames which facilitates the evaluation of kinetic energy operators in these non-standard frames.