Spectroscopic networks

Approaches related to graph theory are investigated which allow a better understanding and yield routes for systematic enlargement and improvement of experimental spectroscopic line lists of molecules. The proposed protocols are based on the fact that quantum mechanics builds, in a simple and natural way, large-scale, weighted, undirected graphs, whereby the vertices are discrete energy levels, the edges are transitions, and the weights are transition intensities. A small part of molecular quantum mechanical graphs can be probed experimentally via high-resolution spectroscopic techniques, while the complete graph encompassing the full line list information for a given molecule can be obtained through sophisticated variational nuclear motion computations. Both approaches yield what one may call spectroscopic networks (SNs). It is shown on the example of the (HDO)-O-16 isotopologue of the water molecule that both the measured and the computed one-photon absorption SNs have a scale-free behavior with all of the usual consequences, including appearance of hubs, robustness, error tolerance, and the "small-world" property. For the complete computed "deterministic" network the scale-free property holds if a realistic intensity cut-off is employed during its build-up, thus introducing "stochasticity". The graph-theoretical view of molecular spectra offers several new ideas for improving the accuracy and robustness of the information systems containing high-resolution spectroscopic data. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.