Reactive domains of energy hypersurfaces and the stability of minimum energy reaction paths

Abstract

Special properties of the Riemannian metric for energy hypersurfaces, defined within the framework of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, are utilized in devising a partitioning scheme for domains of nuclear coordinates. The chemically important coordinate domains are distinguished from domains of lesser importance by their curvature properties. Conditions are derived for the stability of minimum energy reaction paths, and the effects of instability regions are investigated. Instability domains along minimum energy paths may allow small vibrational perturbations to alter the outcome of the chemical reaction.