Identical Particles Exchange Symmetry and the Electric Dipole Moment in Molecules

Abstract

Based on fundamental symmetries, molecules cannot have a permanent electric dipole moment, although it is commonly used in the literature to explain the different molecular spectra for heteronuclear and homonuclear molecules. Electric-dipole rotational and vibrational spectra can indeed be observed in heteronuclear molecules, while they are missing in molecules with identical nuclei. This paper shows that the missing spectral features can be explained as an effect of the exchange symmetry for identical particles.

Keywords

• electric dipole moment
• molecular spectra
• fundamental symmetries
• identical particles