03 November 2000
Vol 290, Issue 5493

About The Cover

Cover image expansion

COVER A hydrogen atom (white) colliding with heavy water can replace (upper) a deuterium atom (blue), extract it (lower), or just bounce off. Exciting the water with a laser influences the outcome. Understanding how to influence chemical reactions requires accurate theory for the atomic motion on potential energy surfaces like those represented in yellow here. See page 961. [Image: Visualization by Stuart Ramsden, Australian National University Supercomputer Facility Vizlab]