The molecular Aharonov-Bohm effect in bound states beyond the adiabatic approximation

Abstract

The linear E⊗ϵ Jahn-Teller model with an “extrinsic” Aharonov-Bohm solenoid of strength α, previously studied by Mead at the adiabatic level, is generalized to the vicbronic case. Energies and eigenfunctions of the full vibronic Hamiltonian are calculated using eigenfunctions of a two-dimensional harmonic oscillator with the solenoid at the origin. Oscillating spin denstities and concomitant Ham's reduction factors are evaluated. The neglect of the diagonal vector potentials is equivalent to α= 1/2 and, in this case, the reduction factors vanish for vibronic angular momentum j = 1/2. The symmetries of the model are studied by partitioning technique. In the adiabatic regime, vibronic spectra with α=0 and 1/2 are compared to adiabatic calculations showing that the neglect of the diagonal vector potentials influences the spectra more than the adiabatic approximation. Finally, with α=1/2, degeneracies in the spectra show up at some vibronic coupling strengths, indicating a hidden dynamical symmetry.