Coriolis coupling as a source of non-RRKM effects in ozone molecule: Lifetime statistics of vibrationally excited ozone molecules

A theory that describes the non-RRKM (non-Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus) effects in the lifetime statistics of activated ozone molecules is derived. The non-RRKM effects are shown to originate due to the diffusive energy exchange between vibrational and rotational degrees of freedom in ozone molecule. The lifetime statistics is found to be intramolecular diffusion controlled at long times. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the direct MD simulations of lifetime statistics. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3430514