Harmonic Oscillator - Selection Rule
Channel: Physical Chemistry
Date: 09/10/2020

Light can be used to cause transitions between harmonic oscillator energy levels only if those levels are adjacent. 

The harmonic oscillator selection rule is Δn = ±1

Typo alert: At 4:34, I make a sign error. The − sign should be a + there, and in the equations that follow. Luckily, it does not affect the final result. Thanks to @macteos8539 for spotting the error.