Molecular vibrations

Interest in the theory behind infrared and Raman vibrational spectra has grown with the rise of laser technology. This graduate-level work on molecular vibrations has long been a standard text for teaching molecular spectroscopy and remains a reference for researchers in the field.

The book builds its material step by step. It opens with the basic theory of molecular vibrations and the use of wave mechanics, then turns to the mathematical techniques developed by Wilson and his students for handling the equations and for applying symmetry and group theory. Later chapters cover vibrational selection rules and intensities, potential functions, and methods for solving the secular determinant, and the text closes with a complete vibrational analysis of benzene. Sixteen appendices, running to nearly one hundred pages, collect useful material that is easier to follow outside the main text.

The authors are E. Bright Wilson of Harvard University, J. C. Decius of Oregon State University, and the late Paul C. Cross, formerly President of Mellon Institute. This inexpensive reprint edition is aimed especially at younger students entering molecular spectroscopy.