ANGULAR-MOMENTUM DISTRIBUTIONS IN A DIRECT PHOTODISSOCIATION PROCESS OF LINEAR TRIATOMIC-MOLECULES

With the aid of an addition theorem of spherical harmonics, the transformations between the angular basis functions of photofragments in the atom-diatom collisional coordinates and the rotational wavefunctions of parent molecules in Euler angles are found. These transformation relations are employed to treat the photofragmentation of linear triatomic molecules quantum mechanically. In a direct photodissociation process, the rotational and orbital angular momentum distributions of photofragments as a function of the rotational and the bending-vibrational quantum numbers of parent molecules are derived.