Communication: Selection rules for tunneling splitting of vibrationally excited levels

J Chem Phys. 2013 Jul 14;139(2):021101. doi: 10.1063/1.4813002.

Abstract

Five symmetry-based selection rules are formulated that relate the tunneling splitting of a vibrationally excited level to that of the ground level in molecules with a symmetric double-minimum potential. The rules, which explain why excited levels frequently have smaller splittings than zero-point levels, are used to interpret the observed and calculated splittings in malonaldehyde.