ISSN:
1089-7690
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
Notes:
We develop an expression for the rate of energy relaxation of a nonlinear oscillator coupled to a linear, dissipative bath. This particular type of model has wide applicability to studies of relaxation rates of vibrational modes in chemical systems. The energy relaxation rate is estimated by relating the anharmonic oscillator to an effective harmonic reference system. The theoretical predictions compare favorably with simulation results for the energy relaxation of a Morse oscillator (i) coupled to an Ohmic bath and (ii) coupled to a bath with exponentially decaying friction. The dependence of the initial relaxation rate on the excitation energy of a Morse oscillator is qualitatively different for the two cases. When the oscillator is coupled to an Ohmic bath, the initial relaxation rate decreases as a function of the excitation energy. When exponentially decaying friction is employed, however, the initial relaxation rate is an increasing function of the excitation energy. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.470766
