Anomalous Thermal Stability of Metastable C₂0 Fullerene

The results of computer simulation of the dynamics of fullerene C_20 at different temperatures are presented. It is shown that, although it is metastable, this isomer is very stable with respect to the transition to a lower energy configuration and retains its chemical structure under heating to very high temperatures, T ~ 3000 K. Its decay activation energy is found to be E_a ~ 7 eV. Possible decay channels are studied, and the height of the minimum potential barrier to decay is determined to be U = 5.0 eV. The results obtained make it possible to understand the reasons for the anomalous stability of fullerene C_20 under normal conditions.