Spectroscopy is concerned with the interaction of light with matter. This monograph deals with collision-induced absorption of radiation in gases, especially in the infrared region of the spectrum. Contrary to the more familiar molecular spectroscopy which has been treated in a number of well-known volumes, this monograph focuses on the supermolecular spectra observable in dense gases; it is the first monograph on the subject.

For the present purpose, it is useful to distinguish molecular from supermolecular spectra. In ordinary spectroscopy, the dipole moments responsible for absorption and emission are those of individual atoms and molecules. Ordinary (or allowed) spectra are caused by intra-atomic and intra molecular dynamics. Collisions may shift and broaden the observable lines, but in ordinary spectroscopy collisional interactions are generally not thought of as a source of spectral intensity. In other words, the integrated intensities of ordinary spectral lines are basically given by the square of the dipole transition matrix elements of individual molecules, regardless of intermolecular interactions that might or might not take place. Supermolecular spectra, on the other hand, arise from interaction-induced dipole moments, that is dipole moments which do not exist in the individual (i.e., non-interacting) molecules. Interaction-induced dipole moments may arise, for example, by polarization of the collisional partner in the electric multipole field surrounding a molecule, or by intermolecular exchange and dispersion forces, which cause a temporary rearrangement of electronic charge for the duration of the interaction.