This textbook is intended for use by students of physics, physical chemistry, and theoretical chemistry. The reader is presumed to have a basic knowledge of atomic and quantum physics at the level provided, for example, by the first few chapters in our book The Physics of Atoms and Quanta. The student of physics will find here material which should be included in the basic education of every physicist. This book should furthermore allow students to acquire an appreciation of the breadth and variety within the field of molecular physics and its future as a fascinating area of research. For the student of chemistry, the concepts introduced in this book will provide a theoretical framework for his or her field of study. With the help of these concepts, it is at least in principle possible to reduce the enormous body of empirical chemical knowledge to a few fundamental rules: those of quantum mechanics. In addition, modem physical methods whose fundamentals are introduced here are becoming increasingly important in chemistry and now represent indispensable tools for the chemist. As examples, we might mention the structural analysis of complex organic compounds, spectroscopic investigation of very rapid reaction processes or, as a practical application, the remote detection of pollutants in the air.
