Display of the flow of energy in molecules

In this article, we develop a method to graphically display the flow of energy within molecules. An energy continuity equation is derived leading to a molecular energy flux vector field. Computation of the flux calls for the intramolecular potential, any external interactions, and the phase space trajectories of the molecular motion. The flux provides a means to display energy flow in still frames and as a tool to visualize hitherto undiscovered dynamic pathways in molecules. Examples are presented that show energy flow in three molecular systems and illustrate the point that depiction of energy flux patterns has increasing utility and meaning as one moves to larger molecules. Simple extensions to this work would also allow visualization of the flux of such quantities as linear and angular momentum. © 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.