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Chem 135ab Chemical Dynamics
9 units (3-0-6); part a, second term; part b, third term; second, third terms

Prerequisites: Ch 21 abc and Ch 41 abc, or equivalent, or instructor’s permission. Part a: Introduction to the dynamics of chemical reactions. Topics include scattering cross sections, rate constants, intermolecular potentials, reactive scattering, nonadiabatic processes, statistical theories of unimolecular reactions, and the application of laser and molecular beam techniques to the study of reaction mechanisms. Part b: The quantum description of chemical reactions. The scattering matrix. The calculation of reaction cross sections, probabilities, and rate constants. Collision lifetimes and resonances. Classical trajectories. The two terms can be taken independently. Instructor: Okumura, staff.