Using the core-mass approach, we have generated a vibrational-mass surface for the triatomic H 3 +. The coordinate-dependent masses account for the off-resonance nonadiabatic coupling and permit a very accurate determination of the rovibrational states using a single potential energy surface. The new, high-precision measurements of 12 rovibrational transitions in the ν 2 bending fundamental of H 3 + by Wu et al. [Phys. Rev. A 88, 032507 (2013)] are used to scale this surface empirically and to derive state-dependent vibrational and rotational masses that reproduce the experimental transition energies to 10 −3 cm −1. Rotational term values for J 10 are presented for the two lowest vibrational states and equivalent transitions in D 3 + considered.

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For high-precision calculations of rovibrational states of light molecules, it is essential to include non-adiabatic corrections. In the absence of crossings of potential energy surfaces, they can be incorporated in a single surface picture through coordinate-dependent vibrational and rotational reduced masses. We present a compact method for their evaluation and relate in particular the vibrational mass to a well defined nuclear core mass derived from a Mulliken analysis of the electronic density. For the rotational mass we propose a simple, but very effective parametrization. The use of these masses in the nuclear Schrödinger equation yields numerical data for the corrections of a much higher quality than can be obtained with optimized constant masses, typically better than 0.1 cm(-1). We demonstrate the method for H(2), H(2)(+), and singly deuterated isotopologues. Isotopic asymmetry does not present any particular difficulty. Generalization to polyatomic molecules is straightforward.