Properties of electronic current induced by nuclear motion: Interaction with radiation

Abstract

The induction of electronic motion by nuclear motion is described for the particular case of the absorption of infrared radiation by chiral molecular systems. The description is in terms of an effective vector potential, which is obtained by averaging over the electronic coordinates. This effective vector potential can be visualized in a number of ways. Nine of these are tabulated and discussed. Strong evidence is presented that the interaction of rings with radiation can be treated in the same way as the interaction with chains. Evidence is also obtained that the bulk of the induced electronic motion can be determined semiclassically.