Two-level rotating-wave approximations for molecules in a static electric field with an application to rotationally averaged spectra

Abstract
A rotating-wave approximation (RWA) for the single-photon and multiphoton resonance profiles for a two-level molecule interacting with both sinusoidal and static electric fields is derived. Included is a useful expression for the coupling between the molecule and the applied sinusoidal field which exhibits the effects of both diagonal dipole matrix elements (permanent dipole moments) and the applied static electric field. Comparisons of the RWA results with exact two-level calculations provide qualitative information concerning the validity of the RWA as a function of molecular and field parameters. These examples are also used to illustrate the interpretive nature of the RWA results for the resonance profiles and some of the effects of permanent dipoles and static fields on the profiles. Of particular interest are examples involving Boltzmann rotationally averaged spectra as a function of temperature where it is shown that minima in the spectra occurring for high temperatures can be reduced or removed completely if the temperature or applied static field is reduced.