Theory and Experiments on Chemical Instabilities.
Abstract
The Franck-Condon approximation of treating an electronic transition in a molecular system at fixed nuclear coordinates is shown to provide qualitatively correct predictions. The theory was applied to both adiabatic and nonadibatic collisions. So far only relative rates have been calculated and the challenge of predicting absolute rates remains open. A stochastic theory of nucleation in phase transitions has been developed in which the equivalence of a thermodynamic and kinetic formulation of critical cluster sizes is shown. Suitable use of a combination of a master equation and a form of transition probability according to Langer has been shown to lead to a most probable evolution in time which is in fact the deterministic rate equation. An extensive investigation of the formal theory of statistical mechanics of stationary states has begun.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA098066
Entities
People
- John Ross
Organizations
- Stanford University