Chaos in a Jahn-Teller Molecule

Abstract

The Jahn-Teller system E x b_1 + b_2 has a particular degeneracy, where the vibronic potential has an elliptical minimum. In the general case where the ellipse does not reduce to a circle, the classical motion in the potential is chaotic, tending to trapping near one of the extrema of the ellipse. In the quantum problem, the motion consists of correlated tunneling from one extremum to the opposite, leading to an average angular momentum reminiscent of that of the better known E x e dynamic Jahn-Teller system.Comment: 7 eps figures, revtex. To be published, Phys. Rev.