Extremely narrow peaks in predissociation of sodium dimer due to rovibronic coupling.

In sodium dimer the 2 (3)Pi(g), 3 (3)Pi(g), and 4 (3)Sigma(g) (+) electronic states are coupled; the coupling of the two (3)Pi(g) states is due to vibrational motion while the nonadiabatic interaction between the (3)Sigma(g) (+) and the (3)Pi(g) states-in particular, the 3 (3)Pi(g) state-is mediated by rotational interaction. The resulting vibronic problem is studied in some detail. The bound vibrational states of the 3 (3)Pi(g) and 4 (3)Pi(g) (+) states lie in the dissociation continuum of the 2 (3)Pi(g) state and become resonances due to the prevailing nonadiabatic coupling. The resonances are calculated using the complex scaling method and the available ab initio adiabatic potential energy curves. It is demonstrated that the resonances associated with rotational nonadiabatic coupling are narrower by several orders of magnitude than those that emerge from the vibrational nonadiabatic coupling. The predissociation cross section is computed and compared with experiment.