Time-dependent and time-independent wavepacket approaches to reactive scattering and photodissociation dynamics

Abstract

Quantum mechanical wavepacket treatments of reactive scattering and photodissociation dynamics are reviewed and discussed. Initially these treatments arose within a time-dependent framework, but as the cross sections of interest depend on energy rather than on time, it was realised that by Fourier transforming the basic equations over time an equivalent time-independent wavepacket methodology could be formulated. Other methods, namely the real wavepacket method and the polynomial propagation method were also developed. The review discusses all these methods and their relationship to each other. In the case of photodissociation, the real wavepacket method is clearly formulated for the first time.

Keywords:

• quantum dynamics
• molecular reactive scattering
• photodissociation
• wavepackets

Acknowledgements

I thank Alex Brown, Stephen K. Gray and Shiyang Zou for helpful discussions.