Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Spatial Separation of Molecular Conformers and Clusters
Published on: January 9, 2014
Critical binding and electron scattering by symmetric-top polar molecules
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
Abstract:
Quantum treatments of electron interactions with polar symmetric-top rotor molecules show features not present in the treatment of the linear-polar-rotor model. For symmetric tops possessing non-zero angular momentum about the symmetry axis, a new critical dipole can be defined that guarantees an infinite set of dipole-bound states independent of the values of the components of the inertial tensor. Additionally, for this same class, the scattering cross section diverges for all nonzero values of dipole moments and inertial moments, similar to solutions for the fixed linear dipole. Additional predictions are presented for electron affinities and rotational resonances of these systems.
Related Concept Videos
Molecular Orbital Theory I
MO Theory and Covalent Bonding
Molecular Orbital Theory II
π Electron Effects on Chemical Shift: Overview
Molecular Geometry and Dipole Moments
Molecular Shapes
Two regions of electron density in a diatomic...

