Quantum dynamics of coupled translational and rotational motions of H2 inside C60

We report rigorous quantum calculations of the translation-rotation (T-R) eigenstates of the H-2 molecule in C-60. The resulting level structure can be explained in terms of a few dominant features. These include the coupling between the orbital and the rotational angular momenta of H-2 to give the total angular momentum lambda, and the splitting of the sevenfold degeneracy of T-R levels with lambda=3 by the nonsphericity of C-60, according to the rules of the icosahedral I-h group. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.