Spin-orbit coupling and the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in the C−60 system

The dynamic Jahn-Teller effect is studied for a charged fullerene molecule C 60 − with allowance for spin-orbit coupling. The system of self-consistent equations describing the interaction of an electron and the molecular vibrations in the event of spin-orbit splitting of the electronic level is solved analytically. A novel type of nonlinear vibrations occurring in such a system is described. It is shown that with spin-orbit coupling taken into account, the static Jahn-Teller configurations in the C 60 − molecule are unstable even in the limit of strong electron-vibronc coupling and that the symmetry of the atomic configuration of the unperturbed C 60 − molecule is restored under time averaging.