The rovibrational Hamiltonian for ammonia-like molecules

Abstract

A new exact quantum mechanical rovibrational Hamiltonian operator for ammonia-like molecules is derived. The Hamiltonian is constructed in a molecular system of axes, such that its z′ axis makes a trisection of the pyramidal angle formed by three bond vectors with the vertex on the central atom. The introduced set of the internal rovibrational coordinates is adapted to facilitate a convenient description of the inversion motion. These internal coordinates and the molecular axis system have a remarkable property, namely, the internal vibrational angular momentum of the molecule equals zero. This property significantly reduces the Coriolis coupling and simplifies the form of the Hamiltonian. The correctness of this Hamiltonian is proved by a numerical procedure. The orthogonal Radau vectors allowing us to define a similar molecular axis system and the internal coordinates are considered. The Hamiltonian for the Radau parameterization takes a form simple enough to carry out effectively variational calculations of the molecular rovibrational states. Under the appropriate choice of the variational basis functions, the Hamiltonian matrix elements are fully factorizable and do not have any singularities. A convenient method of symmetrization of the basis functions is proposed.