M. E. Kellman, V. Tyng and J. P. Rose

Department of Chemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA

Spectral patterns associated with bifurcations in the vibrational dynamics of highly excited molecules will be considered in a series of cases of increasing complexity. Early work on a spectroscopic Hamiltonian with a single resonance will be briefly reviewed, with an emphasis on spectral patterns associated with a separatrix. Multiresonance systems will then be considered. It will be shown how the bifurcation analysis can be performed for systems with a conserved polyad number. Specific cases include water, acetylene bends, and a planar model of acetylene bends and stretches. A spectral assignment technique based on correlation diagrams, effective quantum numbers, and a "dressed basis" technique will be presented. Spectral patterns associated with these assignments, even in the presence of chaos, will be presented and evaluated for their dynamical information.