Theory and Experiments on Chemical Dynamics and Instabilities.
Abstract
We have used the Franck Condon theory to calculate planar and three-dimensional angular distributions for the reaction products of atom-diatom chemical reactions. After applying the Franck Condon approximation we consider the limits of weak and strong potential coupling in the limits of weak and strong kinematic coupling. For H + H2 we find our results in the strong potential limit to be in qualitative agreement with exact quantum mechanical calculations. We have used some results from the theory of propagation of discontinuities in systems with chemical instabilities for the purpose of an analysis of the motion of domain walls in ferrodistortive materials. When a fluid, gas or liquid, is subjected to a temperature gradient in the gravitational field, then convective instabilities, called Rayleigh-Bernard instabilities, may occur. We have re-investigated this much-studied problem since previous work did not consider the inclusion of cross transport coefficients such as thermal diffusion (Soret effect) and the reciprocal phenomena known as the Dufour effect. We used the hydrodynamic equations in the Boussinesq approximation and studied their stability to the onset of both stationary and oscillatory convection. We find a variation principle for the critical Rayleigh number at the onset of stationary convection which depends on a single dimensionless parameter, a function of the thermo-dynamic coefficients.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA082147
Entities
People
- John Ross
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology