Recent laboratory observations and advances in theoretical quantum chemistry allow a reappraisal of the fundamental mechanisms that determine the water vapour self-continuum absorption throughout the infrared and millimetre wave spectral regions. By starting from a framework that partitions bimolecular interactions between water molecules into free-pair states, true bound and quasi-bound dimers, we present a critical review of recent observations, continuum models and theoretical predictions. In the near-infrared bands of the water monomer, we propose that spectral features in recent laboratory-derived self-continuum can be well explained as being due to a combination of true bound and quasi-bound dimers, when the spectrum of quasi-bound dimers is approximated as being double the broadened spectrum of the water monomer. Such a representation can explain both the wavenumber variation and the temperature dependence. Recent observations of the self-continuum absorption in the windows between these near-infrared bands indicate that widely used continuum models can underestimate the true strength by around an order of magnitude. An existing far-wing model does not appear able to explain the discrepancy, and although a dimer explanation is possible, currently available observations do not allow a compelling case to be made. In the 8–12 μm window, recent observations indicate that the modern continuum models either do not properly represent the temperature dependence, the wavelength variation, or both. The temperature dependence is suggestive of a transition from the dominance of true bound dimers at lower temperatures to quasi-bound dimers at higher temperatures. In the mid- and far-infrared spectral region, recent theoretical calculations indicate that true bound dimers may explain at least between 20% and 40% of the observed self-continuum. The possibility that quasi-bound dimers could cause an additional contribution of the same size is discussed. Most recent theoretical considerations agree that water dimers are likely to be the dominant contributor to the self-continuum in the mm-wave spectral range.

We present a rigorous calculation of the contribution of water dimers to the absorption coefficient α(ν,T) in the millimeter and far infrared domains, over a wide range (276–310 K) of temperatures. This calculation relies on the explicit consideration of all possible transitions within the entire rovibrational bound state manifold of the dimer. The water dimer is described by the flexible 12-dimensional potential energy surface previously fitted to far IR transitions [ C. Leforestier et al., J. Chem. Phys. 117, 8710 (2002) ], and which was recently further validated by the good agreement obtained for the calculated equilibrium constant K_p(T) with experimental data [ Y. Scribano et al., J. Phys. Chem. A. 110, 5411 (2006) ]. Transition dipole matrix elements were computed between all rovibrational states up to an excitation energy of 750 cm⁻¹, and J = K = 5 rotational quantum numbers. It was shown by explicit calculations that these matrix elements could be extrapolated to much higher J values (J = 30). Transitions to vibrational states located higher in energy were obtained from interpolation of computed matrix elements between a set of initial states spanning the 0–750 cm⁻¹ range and all vibrational states up to the dissociation limit ( ∼ 1200 cm⁻¹). We compare our calculations with available experimental measurements of the water continuum absorption in the considered range. It appears that water dimers account for an important fraction of the observed continuum absorption in the millimeter region (0–10 cm⁻¹). As frequency increases, their relative contribution decreases, becoming small ( ∼ 3%) at the highest frequency considered ν = 944 cm⁻¹.