L-shell X-ray production cross section measured by heavy ion impact on selected rare earth elements

The production cross sections of L-shell X-ray of some rare earth elements have been measured by collision of ¹²C⁴⁺ and ¹⁶O⁴⁺ ions of 0.5 to 0.75 MeV/amu. The results were compared with experimental data of other authors and with theoretical predictions gained by the ECPSSR and ECPSSR plus multiple ionization (ECPSSR+MI) models. For atomic parameters (fluorescence yields and probabilities for Coster-Kronig transitions) the role of several databases were studied. The ECPSSR theory underestimates cross sections when compared with experimental results obtained in the present work, but ECPSSR+MI has a better agreement with the experimental data. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analytical formulas for calculation of K X-ray production cross sections by alpha ions

In the present study, different procedures are followed to deduce the semi-empirical and the empirical K X-rayX-ray production cross sections induced by alpha ions from the available experimental data and the theoretical results of the ECPSSR model for elements with 20≤Z≤30. The deduced K X-ray production cross sections are compared with predictions from ECPSSR model and with other earlier works. Generally, the deduced K X-ray production cross sections obtained by fitting the available experimental data for each element separately give the most reliable values than those obtained by a global fit.     

New procedure calculation of K-shell ionization cross sections by proton impact

The database, which relies on different compilations available in the literature and on other experimental values extracted from papers published from 1992 till 2010, is used, within the individual treatment of the elements from beryllium (⁴Be) to uranium (⁹²U), to deduce the empirical cross sections. These experimental data can be presented in a single curve, depending on a scaling law extracted from studies in the most familiar theories of collision (PWBA and BEA). Then, a fourth order polynomial was used to fit very well the existing database of K-shell ionization cross sections by proton. This procedure generates a new set of parameters to calculate empirical cross sections. Following the present procedure, our results are compared with those obtained using the ECPSSR model where a discrepancy is observed in the low-proton energy regime.     

Accurate time dependent wave packet calculations for the N + OH reaction

We present accurate quantum calculations of state-to-state cross sections for the N + OH → NO + H reaction performed on the ground (3)A' global adiabatic potential energy surface of Guadagnini et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 102, 774 (1995)]. The OH reagent is initially considered in the rovibrational state ν = 0, j = 0 and wave packet calculations have been performed for selected total angular momentum, J = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40,...,120. Converged integral state-to-state cross sections are obtained up to a collision energy of 0.5 eV, considering a maximum number of eight helicity components, Ω = 0,...,7. Reaction probabilities for J = 0 obtained as a function of collision energy, using the wave packet method, are compared with the recently published time-independent quantum mechanical one. Total reaction cross sections, state-specific rate constants, opacity functions, and product state-resolved integral cross-sections have been obtained by means of the wave packet method for several collision energies and compared with recent quasi-classical trajectory results obtained with the same potential energy surface. The rate constant for OH(ν = 0, j = 0) is in good agreement with the previous theoretical values, but in disagreement with the experimental data, except at 300 K.     

Q-branch linewidths of N2 perturbed by H2: experiments and quantum calculations from an ab initio potential

In this work the authors present an experimental and theoretical study about the Q-branch lines' broadening coefficients of N2 perturbed by H2. Experimental values for these parameters have been obtained at 440 and 580 K, and quantum calculations have been performed using a new ab initio potential energy surface, obtained by quantum chemistry methods. The results of these calculations are compared to experimental data obtained previously at 77 and 298 K [L. Gomez et al., Mol. Phys. 104, 1869 (2006)] and to the present measurements. A satisfactory agreement is obtained for the whole range of temperatures used in the experiments.     

Need for further inelastic scattering measurements at X-ray energies

With recent improvements in both theory and experiment for scattering of X-rays from atoms, it is possible now to make a more quantitative comparison, and see whether agreement is being obtained within the much more stringent limits set by the present calculations and measurements. Comparing with present theory, measured whole atom Compton scattering cross sections in the photon energy range 11–40 keV using synchrotron X-ray sources demonstrate that a dramatic improvement in the precision of scattering measurements has been achieved. However, circumstances are also identified in which further experimental data is needed in order to test the adequacy of present theoretical approaches.     

Electron and positron elastic scattering in gaseous and liquid water: A comparative study

In the present work, we present both theoretical differential and total cross sections for the elastic scattering process of positrons and electrons in liquid and vapour water for energies ranging from 10 eV to 10 keV. The calculations are performed in the partial-wave formalism by means of a complex interaction potential taking into account static potential as well as fine effects like exchange and polarization contributions. The theoretical results obtained in this free-parameter quantum-mechanical treatment are compared to available experimental data and good agreement is generally observed. Moreover, quantitative differences are reported between the positron and electron scattering, in vapour as well as in liquid water.     

Comment on: MALDI ionization mechanisms investigated by comparison of isomers of dihydroxybenzoic acid

Ionization mechanism of matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization was recently investigated by Kirmess et al. (J. Mass Spectrom. 2016, 51, 79). The authors compared the ion yields of dihydroxybenzoic acid isomers between experimental measurements and theoretical models and claimed that the predictions of chemical and physical dynamics model are in good agreement with experimental data, but the predictions of thermal model are not. Here, we show that wrong S1–S1 energy pooling rate constants and absorption cross sections were used in the aforementioned article. In addition, we suggest the authors to list the values of many parameters used in their calculations and describe how they obtained these values because these values are completely unknown.     

An Assessment of Computational Methods for Obtaining Structural Information of Moderately Flexible Biomolecules from Ion Mobility Spectrometry

When utilized in conjunction with modeling, the collision cross section (Ω) from ion mobility spectrometry can be used to deduce the gas phase structures of analyte ions. Gas phase conformations are determined computationally, and their Ω calculated using an approximate method, the results of which are compared with experimental data. Though prior work has focused upon rigid small molecules or large biomolecules, correlation of computational and experimental Ω has not been thoroughly examined for analytes with intermediate conformational flexibility, which constitute a large fraction of the molecules studied in the field. Here, the computational paradigm for calculating Ω has been tested for the tripeptides WGY, YGW, and YWG (Y = tyrosine, W = tryptophan, G = glycine). Experimental data indicate that Ω_exp (YWG) > Ω_exp (WGY) ≈ Ω_exp (YGW). The energy distributions of conformations obtained from tiers of simulated annealing molecular dynamics (SAMD) were analyzed using a wide array of density functionals. These quantum mechanical energy distributions do not agree with the MD data, which leads to structural differences between the SAMD and DFT conformations. The latter structures are obtained by reoptimization of the SAMD geometries, and are the only suite of structures that reproduce the experimental trend in analyte separability. In the absence of fitting Lennard Jones potentials that reproduce experimental results for the Trajectory Method, the Exact Hard Sphere Scattering method produced numerical values that are in best agreement with the experimental cross sections obtained in He drift gas.     

Calculations of fine-structure resolved collisional rate coefficients for the NH(X3Σ-)-He system

We present fine-structure-resolved collisional rate coefficients for the NH(X(3)Σ(-))-He van der Waals complex. The calculations are based on the state-of-the-art potential energy surface [Cybulski et al., J. Chem. Phys. 122, 094307 (2005)]. Close-coupling calculations of the collisional excitation cross sections of the fine-structure levels of NH by He are calculated for total energies up to 3500 cm(-1), which yield, after thermal average, rate coefficients up to 350 K. The fine-structure splitting of rotational levels is taken into account rigorously. The propensity rules between fine-structure levels are reported, and it is found that F-conserving cross sections are much larger than F-changing cross sections, as expected from theoretical considerations. The calculated rate coefficients are compared with available experimental measurements at room temperature and a fairly good agreement is found between experimental and theoretical data. The agreement confirms the relatively good quality of the scattering calculations and also the accuracy of the potential energy surface used in this work. The new set of thermal rate coefficients for this system may be used for improvements in astrophysical and atmospherical modeling.     

Electron scattering by methanol and ethanol: a joint theoretical-experimental investigation

We present a joint theoretical-experimental study on electron scattering by methanol (CH(3)OH) and ethanol (C(2)H(5)OH) in a wide energy range. Experimental differential, integral and momentum-transfer cross sections for elastic electron scattering by ethanol are reported in the 100-1000 eV energy range. The experimental angular distributions of the energy-selected electrons are measured and converted to absolute cross sections using the relative flow technique. Moreover, elastic, total, and total absorption cross sections for both alcohols are calculated in the 1-500 eV energy range. A complex optical potential is used to represent the dynamics of the electron-alcohol interaction, whereas the scattering equations are solved iteratively using the Pade?'s approximant technique. Our calculated data agree well with those obtained using the Schwinger multichannel method at energies up to 20 eV. Discrepancies at high energies indicate the importance of absorption effects, included in our calculations. In general, the comparison between our theoretical and experimental results, as well as with other experimental data available in the literature, also show good agreement. Nevertheless, the discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental total cross sections at low incident energies suggests that the experimental cross sections measured using the transmission technique for polar targets should be reviewed.     

Study of hydrogen-bonded clusters of 2-methoxyphenol–water

Various hydrogen-bonded clusters of 2-methoxyphenol (2MP) with water have been analyzed using ab initio methods and Atoms in Molecules (AIM) theory. The intramolecular hydrogen bond energy (and enthalpy) for 2MP was evaluated from two different methods. The results of rotational barriers method are in better agreement with experimental data. Binding energies, vibrational frequencies and geometrical parameters were examined and compared for these complexes. It was shown that in the most stable complex, water acts both as a donor and an acceptor. The “bifurcated” complex was shown to be relatively stable based on energy values. Atoms in Molecules and Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis were used to confirm the existence of hydrogen bonds and to compare the strengths of them. The results obtained from quantum mechanical, AIM and NBO calculations are in agreement with each other.     

Application of fixed-nuclei scattering theory to electron methane elastic and inelastic differential cross sections at 10 eV impact energy

Quantum mechanical calculations are reported for electron-methane elastic scattering and rotational excitation cross sections at 10 eV impact energy. The calculations employ a fixed-nuclei close coupling formalism with full incorporation of symmetry and are used to test previous laboratory-frame calculations employing a direct coupling approximation. Good agreement is obtained. Additional comparisons to previous theoretical and experimental work are also presented, and the contributions of the various symmetries to the cross sections are analyzed in terms of representatve matrix elements of the interaction potential.     

Gas-phase properties and Fukui indices of sulfine (CH2SO). Potential energy surface and maximum hardness principle for its protonation process. A density functional study

Gas-phase thermochemical properties of sulfine (CH₂SO) and the potential energy surface of its protonation process were studied by the density functional method employing different exchange-correlation potentials. All calculations showed that the most stable protonated isomer is planar with the proton bonded to the oxygen atom in a trans arrangement of the skeleton. Three transition states were located that allow interconversion between the different isomers. Hardnesses and Fukui indices were calculated to follow the reactivity trend along the protonation path and to explain the preference for a particular protonation site on neutral sulfine. Proton affinity, gas-phase basicity and heat of formation values, obtained for the first time fully quantum mechanically, agree well with those derived by a recent mass spectrometry experimental study. Good agreement between density functional theory and previous high-level theoretical and experimental data was also found for the heat of formation of sulfine and its most stable protonated form. Received: 12 October 1998 / Accepted: 24 November 1998 / Published online: 16 March 1999     

Excitation energies, electron affinities and ionization potentials of the transition metals V, Cr and Mn

 Configuration interaction calculations were carried out for neutral ground and excited states and positively and negatively ionized states of the V, Cr and Mn atoms. Energy convergence with respect to systematic expansion of both the one-electron and configuration bases was investigated for valence correlation. Contributions from core electrons to the differential correlation energies and relativistic effects were evaluated separately. Assuming additivity of these contributions, excitation energies, electron affinities and ionization potentials of the atoms were obtained. All calculated values were in excellent agreement with the observed values within a deviation of 0.056 eV except for the electron affinity of the V atom, which had a calculated value 0.110 eV larger than the experimental value. Received: 9 August 2000 / Accepted: 26 October 2000 / Published online: 3 April 2001     

Photodissociation of HBr. 1. Electronic structure, photodissociation dynamics, and vector correlation coefficients

Ab initio potential energy curves, transition dipole moments, and spin-orbit coupling matrix elements are computed for HBr. These are then used, within the framework of time-dependent quantum-mechanical wave-packet calculations, to study the photodissociation dynamics of the molecule. Total and partial integral cross sections, the branching fraction for the formation of excited-state bromine atoms Br(2P(1/2)), and the lowest order anisotropy parameters, beta, for both ground and excited-state bromine are calculated as a function of photolysis energy and compared to experimental and theoretical data determined previously. Higher order anisotropy parameters are computed for the first time for HBr and compared to recent experimental measurements. A new expression for the Re[a1(3) (parallel, perpendicular)] parameter describing coherent parallel and perpendicular production of ground-state bromine in terms of the dynamical functions is given. Although good agreement is obtained between the theoretical predictions and the experimental measurements, the discrepancies are analyzed to establish how improvements might be achieved. Insight is obtained into the nonadiabatic dynamics by comparing the results of diabatic and fully adiabatic calculations.     

Quasiclassical trajectory study of the Cl+CH4 reaction dynamics on a quadratic configuration interaction with single and double excitation interpolated potential energy surface

An ab initio interpolated potential energy surface (PES) for the Cl+CH(4) reactive system has been constructed using the interpolation method of Collins and co-workers [J. Chem. Phys. 102, 5647 (1995); 108, 8302 (1998); 111, 816 (1999); Theor. Chem. Acc. 108, 313 (2002)]. The ab initio calculations have been performed using quadratic configuration interaction with single and double excitation theory to build the PES. A simple scaling all correlation technique has been used to obtain a PES which yields a barrier height and reaction energy in good agreement with high level ab initio calculations and experimental measurements. Using these interpolated PESs, a detailed quasiclassical trajectory study of integral and differential cross sections, product rovibrational populations, and internal energy distributions has been carried out for the Cl+CH(4) and Cl+CD(4) reactions, and the theoretical results have been compared with the available experimental data. It has been shown that the calculated total reaction cross sections versus collision energy for the Cl+CH(4) and Cl+CD(4) reactions is very sensitive to the barrier height. Besides, due to the zero-point energy (ZPE) leakage of the CH(4) molecule to the reaction coordinate in the quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) calculations, the reaction threshold falls below the barrier height of the PES. The ZPE leakage leads to CH(3) and HCl coproducts with internal energy below its corresponding ZPEs. We have shown that a Gaussian binning (GB) analysis of the trajectories yields excitation functions in somehow better agreement with the experimental determinations. The HCl(v'=0) and DCl(v'=0) rotational distributions are as well very sensitive to the ZPE problem. The GB correction narrows and shifts the rotational distributions to lower values of the rotational quantum numbers. However, the present QCT rotational distributions are still hotter than the experimental distributions. In both reactions the angular distributions shift from backward peaked to sideways peaked as collision energy increases, as seen in the experiments and other theoretical calculations.     

Molecular structure, spectroscopic studies and first-order molecular hyperpolarizabilities of ferulic acid by density functional study

Quantum chemical calculations of energies, geometrical structure and vibrational wavenumbers of ferulic acid (FA) (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid) were carried out by using density functional (DFT/B3LYP/BLYP) method with 6-31G(d,p) as basis set. The optimized geometrical parameters obtained by DFT calculations are in good agreement with single crystal XRD data. The vibrational spectral data obtained from solid phase FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra are assigned based on the results of the theoretical calculations. The observed spectra are found to be in good agreement with calculated values. The electric dipole moment (μ) and the first hyperpolarizability (β) values of the investigated molecule have been computed using ab initio quantum mechanical calculations. The calculation results also show that the FA molecule might have microscopic nonlinear optical (NLO) behavior with non-zero values. A detailed interpretation of the infrared and Raman spectra of FA was also reported. The energy and oscillator strength calculated by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) results complements with the experimental findings. The calculated HOMO and LUMO energies shows that charge transfer occur within the molecule. The theoretical FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra for the title molecule have been constructed.     

Relative Cross Sections for L- and M-Shell Ionization by Electron Impact

 Results from measurements and calculations of relative L- and M-shell ionization cross sections by electron impact are presented. Measurements were performed for elements Te, Au and Bi on an electron microprobe with specimens consisting of extremely thin films of the studied element deposited on thin, self-supporting, carbon layers. The relative variation of the ionization cross section was obtained by counting the number of characteristic X-rays from the considered element and shell, for varying incident electron energies, from the ionization energy up to 40 keV. Measured data were corrected to account for the energy-dependent spread of the electron beam within the active film and for the ionization due to the electrons backscattered from the carbon layer, using Monte Carlo simulation. Cross sections were evaluated in the Born approximation using an optical-data model with numerically evaluated dipole photoelectric cross sections. Calculated ionization cross section were converted to vacancy production cross sections, which can be directly compared with our experimental data.     

Photoelectron study of the 4d subshell of atomic tin between 35 and 115 eV

Partial cross sections σ and angular distribution parameters β have been measured for the 4d electrons of atomic tin between 35 and 115 eV. Our data for tin (Z=50) are compared with relativistic-random phase approximation (RRPA) calculations on the closed-shell atom cadmium (Z=48). Satisfactory agreement is found if the results are normalized to the same photoelectron energy. Comparison with RRPA calculations made for palladium (Z=46) and xenon (Z=54) reveals some differences. Other experimental data for the β parameter are in good agreement with our values.