Rotational Dynamics of Fullerenes in the Molecular Crystal of Fullerite
M. A. Bubenchikov, Alexey M. Bubenchikov, Aleksandr V. Lun-Fu, В. А. Овчинников
Abstract
The work is devoted to the study of gyroscopic phenomena in the interaction of a rotating fullerene molecule and a xenon atom incident on it. The methods of classical molecular physics are used: intermolecular potentials, Newton's equations for describing the motion of particles, and the Runge–Kutta numerical method of high order of accuracy. A mathematical model is constructed and implemented for the rotation frequencies of fullerene up to 10 14 Hz and the speed of the incident xenon atom of the order of 10 3 m s −1 . For such parameters of the problem, the de Broglie wavelength of the incident atom and the fullerene molecule become smaller than the diameter of the carbon atomic nucleus. This made it possible to apply the Newtonian approach without involving quantum mechanics. The aim of this work is the consistent application of the apparatus of classical mechanics to reveal the effect of the precession of rotating fullerene inside fullerite.