Vibronic coupling effects in the C60 molecule

Many recent experiments have established that the Jahn-Teller (JT) effect plays a very important role in determining the properties of the C60 molecule. A review of the underlying theory developed by the Nottingham group is presented for cases in which distinct minima in the potential energy surface occur. This relates directly to the C60 molecule through the consideration of the T ⊗ h and H ⊗ h JT systems. When only linear coupling terms exist in the T ⊗ h system, the minima form a continuous trough of SO(3) symmetry and new methods must be used. Some details of these results are presented.