Angular distributions near resonances: Effects of neighboring resonances and quantum interference

Quantum-mechanical analysis is presented on the photodissociation dynamics near the resonances. It is shown that the product angular distributions exhibit very different variations depending on the characteristics of resonances. The fragment anisotropy parameters in OH photodissociation are predicted to be independent of energy along isolated Lorentzian resonances. Interferences between neighboring Lorentzian resonances give significant variations of the anisotropy parameters. Quantum interference between the direct and indirect dissociation pathways also contributes to very strong variations of the anisotropy parameters across asymmetric resonances. © 1997 The American Physical Society.[S1050-2947(97)501412-6]