We report the detection of SiS rotational lines in high-vibrational states as well as SiO and SiC2 lines in their ground vibrational state toward IRC+10216 during the Atacama Large Millimeter Array Cycle 0. The spatial distribution of these molecules shows compact emission for SiS and a more extended emission for SiO and SiC2, and also proves the existence of an increase in the SiC2 emission at the outer shells of the circumstellar envelope. We analyze the excitation conditions of the vibrationally excited SiS using the population diagram technique, and we use a large velocity gradient model to compare with the observations. We found moderate discrepancies between the observations and the models that could be explained if SiS lines detected are optically thick. Additionally, the line profiles of the detected rotational lines in the high energy vibrational states show a decreasing linewidth with increasing energy levels. This may be evidence that these lines could be excited only in the inner shells, i.e., the densest and hottest, of the circumstellar envelope of IRC+10216.

The use of the Ehrenfest method to simulate the relaxation of molecules in solution is explored. Using the cyanide ion dissolved in water as a test model, the independent trajectory (IT) and the bundle of trajectories (BT) approximations are shown to provide very different results for the time evolution of the vibrational populations of the solute. None of these approximations reproduce the Boltzmann equilibrium vibrational populations accurately. A modification of the Ehrenfest method based on the use of quantum correction factors is thus proposed to solve this problem. The simulations carried out using the modified Ehrenfest method provide IT and BT relaxation times which are closer to each other and which agree quite well with previous hybrid perturbative results.