Description of nonrigid rotation in small atomic clusters

The dependence of the internal dynamics of triatomic van der Waals clusters on the rate of nonrigid rotation has been studied. The method of decomposition of the system's motion into orthogonal modes of the motion has been proposed. Additionally, a new method of separation of the kinetic energy, captured by the modes, into rotational and vibrational components has been developed. It has been found that the most significant factor for the chaotic behavior of the cluster is the partitioning of the vibrational and rotational energies among the modes.