The hierarchical expansion of the kinetic energy operator in curvilinear coordinates extended to the vibrational configuration interaction method

The hierarchical expansion of the kinetic energy operator in curvilinear coordinates presented earlier for the vibrational self-consistent field technique is extended to the vibrational configuration interaction (VCI) method. The high accuracy of the modified VCI method is demonstrated by computing first excitation energies of the H(2)O(2) molecule using an analytic potential (PCPSDE) and showing convergence to accurate results from full dimensional discrete variable representation calculations.     

A perturbative calculation of the rovibrational energy levels of methane

The rovibrational energy levels of methane are determined from a quartic ab initio potential energy force field where the expansion coordinates are the Morse coordinates for the stretches and extension coordinates for the bends. Energies are calculated using canonical Van Vleck perturbation theory. Results are obtained for both rotation-vibration Hamiltonians expressed as functions of curvilinear and rectilinear normal coordinates. Second, fourth, and sixth order curvilinear results are compared with experimental results, and fourth order results for the rectilinear and curvilinear Hamiltonian are compared to each other. The calculated rovibrational levels are in good agreement with the experimental values for low J levels. The calculated rotational level splittings are in even better agreement with the experiment. In particular, the ground state tetrahedral splittings, which are as small as 10(-4) cm(-1), are well reproduced by our calculations at sixth order.     

Treating singularities present in the Sutcliffe-Tennyson vibrational Hamiltonian in orthogonal internal coordinates

Two methods are developed, when solving the related time-independent Schrodinger equation (TISE), to cope with the singular terms of the vibrational kinetic energy operator of a triatomic molecule given in orthogonal internal coordinates. The first method provides a mathematically correct treatment of all singular terms. The vibrational eigenfunctions are approximated by linear combinations of functions of a three-dimensional nondirect-product basis, where basis functions are formed by coupling Bessel-DVR functions, where DVR stands for discrete variable representation, depending on distance-type coordinates and Legendre polynomials depending on angle bending. In the second method one of the singular terms related to a distance-type coordinate, deemed to be unimportant for spectroscopic applications, is given no special treatment. Here the basis set is obtained by taking the direct product of a one-dimensional DVR basis with a two-dimensional nondirect-product basis, the latter formed by coupling Bessel-DVR functions and Legendre polynomials. With the basis functions defined, matrix representations of the TISE are set up and solved numerically to obtain the vibrational energy levels of H3+. The numerical calculations show that the first method treating all singularities is computationally inefficient, while the second method treating properly only the singularities having physical importance is quite efficient.     

Numeric kinetic energy operators for molecules in polyspherical coordinates

Generalized curvilinear coordinates, as, e.g., polyspherical coordinates, are in general better adapted to the resolution of the nuclear Schro?dinger equation than rectilinear ones like the normal mode coordinates. However, analytical expressions of the kinetic energy operators (KEOs) for molecular systems in polyspherical coordinates may be prohibitively complicated for large systems. In this paper we propose a method to generate a KEO numerically and bring it to a form practicable for dynamical calculations. To examine the new method we calculated vibrational spectra and eigenenergies for nitrous acid (HONO) and compare it with results obtained with an exact analytical KEO derived previously [F. Richter, P. Rosmus, F. Gatti, and H.-D. Meyer, J. Chem. Phys. 120, 6072 (2004)]. In a second example we calculated π → π* photoabsorption spectrum and eigenenergies of ethene (C(2)H(4)) and compared it with previous work [M. R. Brill, F. Gatti, D. Lauvergnat, and H.-D. Meyer, Chem. Phys. 338, 186 (2007)]. In this ethene study the dimensionality was reduced from 12 to 6 by freezing six internal coordinates. Results for both molecules show that the proposed method for obtaining an approximate KEO is reliable for dynamical calculations. The error in eigenenergies was found to be below 1 cm(-1) for most states calculated.     

Quartet states of the acetylene cation: electronic structure calculations and spin-orbit coupling terms

Highly correlated ab initio methods have been used to generate one-dimensional cuts of the six-dimensional potential energy surfaces of the quartet and lowest doublet states for the HCCH(+) ion along the CH, CC, and cis and trans bending coordinates. Transition dipole moments and spin-orbit matrix elements are deduced. For the lowest 1 (4)Sigma(u) (+) state, the calculations predict a possible photon emission through the 1 (4)Pi(g)<--1 (4)Sigma(u) (+) transition competing with internal conversion and predissociation processes. The potential surfaces are used together with spin-orbit matrix elements to discuss the metastability and the predissociation processes forming the C(2)HC(2)H(+)+H(+)H products. Multistep spin-orbit induced predissociation pathways are suggested.     

Hierarchical expansion of the kinetic energy operator in curvilinear coordinates for the vibrational self-consistent field method

A new hierarchical expansion of the kinetic energy operator in curvilinear coordinates is presented and modified vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) equations are derived including all kinematic effects within the mean field approximation. The new concept for the kinetic energy operator is based on many-body expansions for all G matrix elements and its determinant. As a test application VSCF computations were performed on the H(2)O(2) molecule using an analytic potential (PCPSDE) and different hierarchical approximations for the kinetic energy operator. The results indicate that coordinate-dependent reduced masses account for the largest part of the kinetic energy. Neither kinematic couplings nor derivatives of the G matrix nor its determinant had significant effects on the VSCF energies. Only the zero-point value of the pseudopotential yields an offset to absolute energies which, however, is irrelevant for spectroscopic problems.     

Tensor formalism in anharmonic calculations

A new method is presented to compute cartesian tensors in the expansion of curvilinear internal coordinates. Second- and higher-order coefficients are related to the metrics of the space of displacements. Components of the metric tensor are taken from existing tables of inverse kinetic energy matrix elements or, when rotations are involved, derived from general invariance conditions of scalars within a molecule. This leads to a tensor formalism particularly convenient in dealing with curvilinear coordinates in anharmonic calculations of vibrational frequencies. Formulae are given for elements of the potential energy matrix, related to quadratic and cubic force constants in terms of Christoffel symbols. The latter quantities are also used in the expansion of redundancy relations, with explicit coefficients given up to the third order.     

Including anharmonicity in the calculation of rate constants. II. The OH+H2-->H2O+H reaction

A recently developed method for calculating anharmonic vibrational energy levels at nonstationary points along a reaction path that is based on second-order perturbation theory in curvilinear coordinates is combined with variational transition state theory with semiclassical multidimensional tunneling approximations to calculate thermal rate constants for the title reaction. Two different potential energy surfaces were employed for these calculations, an improved version of the author's surface 5 and the WSLFH surface of Wu et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 113, 3150 (2000)]. We present detailed comparisons of rate constants computed for the two surfaces with and without anharmonicity and with various approximations for incorporating tunneling along the reaction path. The results for this system are quite sensitive to the surface employed, the choice of coordinates (curvilinear versus rectilinear), and the inclusion of anharmonicity. A comparison with experiment provides information on the accuracy of these surfaces.     

Automatic generation of potential energy and property surfaces of polyatomic molecules in normal coordinates

A procedure for the automatic construction of Born-Oppenheimer (BO) potential energy and molecular property surfaces in rectilinear normal coordinates is presented and its suitability and accuracy when combined with vibrational structure calculations are assessed. The procedure relies on a hierarchical n-mode representation of the BO potential energy or molecular property surface, where the n-mode term of the sequence of potentials/molecular properties includes only the couplings between n or less vibrational degrees of freedom. Each n-mode cut of the energy/molecular property surface is first evaluated in a grid of points with ab initio electronic structure methods. The ab initio data are then spline interpolated and a subsequent polynomial fitting provides an analytical semiglobal representation for use in vibrational structure programs. The implementation of the procedure is outlined and the accuracy of the method is tested on water and difluoromethane. Strategies for improving the proposed algorithm are also discussed.     

Accurate one-dimensional potential energy curve of the linear (H2)2 cluster

We present a sub-0.3 K accuracy, ground-state one-dimensional potential energy curve of the metastable linear configuration of the (H(2))(2) cluster calculated exclusively with explicitly correlated Gaussian functions with shifted centers. The H(2) internuclear distance is kept at the isolated H(2) vibrational ground-state average value of 1.448 736 bohr and the intermonomer separation is varied between 2 and 100 bohrs. The analytical gradient of the energy with respect to the nonlinear parameters of the Gaussians (i.e., the exponents and the coordinates of the shifts) has been employed in the variational optimization of the wave function. Procedures for enlarging the basis set and for adjusting the centers of the Gaussians to the varying intermonomer separation have been developed and used in the calculations.     

Calibration-quality adiabatic potential energy surfaces for H3(+) and its isotopologues

Calibration-quality ab initio adiabatic potential energy surfaces (PES) have been determined for all isotopologues of the molecular ion H(3)(+). The underlying Born-Oppenheimer electronic structure computations used optimized explicitly correlated shifted Gaussian functions. The surfaces include diagonal Born-Oppenheimer corrections computed from the accurate electronic wave functions. A fit to the 41,655 ab initio points is presented which gives a standard deviation better than 0.1 cm(-1) when restricted to the points up to 6000 cm(-1) above the first dissociation asymptote. Nuclear motion calculations utilizing this PES, called GLH3P, and an exact kinetic energy operator given in orthogonal internal coordinates are presented. The ro-vibrational transition frequencies for H(3)(+), H(2)D(+), and HD(2)(+) are compared with high resolution measurements. The most sophisticated and complete procedure employed to compute ro-vibrational energy levels, which makes explicit allowance for the inclusion of non-adiabatic effects, reproduces all the known ro-vibrational levels of the H(3)(+) isotopologues considered to better than 0.2 cm(-1). This represents a significant (order-of-magnitude) improvement compared to previous studies of transitions in the visible. Careful treatment of linear geometries is important for high frequency transitions and leads to new assignments for some of the previously observed lines. Prospects for further investigations of non-adiabatic effects in the H(3)(+) isotopologues are discussed. In short, the paper presents (a) an extremely accurate global potential energy surface of H(3)(+) resulting from high accuracy ab initio computations and global fit, (b) very accurate nuclear motion calculations of all available experimental line data up to 16,000 cm(-1), and (c) results suggest that we can predict accurately the lines of H(3)(+) towards dissociation and thus facilitate their experimental observation.     

CVRQD ab initio ground-state adiabatic potential energy surfaces for the water molecule

The high accuracy ab initio adiabatic potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the ground electronic state of the water molecule, determined originally by Polyansky et al. [Science 299, 539 (2003)] and called CVRQD, are extended and carefully characterized and analyzed. The CVRQD potential energy surfaces are obtained from extrapolation to the complete basis set of nearly full configuration interaction valence-only electronic structure computations, augmented by core, relativistic, quantum electrodynamics, and diagonal Born-Oppenheimer corrections. We also report ab initio calculations of several quantities characterizing the CVRQD PESs, including equilibrium and vibrationally averaged (0 K) structures, harmonic and anharmonic force fields, harmonic vibrational frequencies, vibrational fundamentals, and zero-point energies. They can be considered as the best ab initio estimates of these quantities available today. Results of first-principles computations on the rovibrational energy levels of several isotopologues of the water molecule are also presented, based on the CVRQD PESs and the use of variational nuclear motion calculations employing an exact kinetic energy operator given in orthogonal internal coordinates. The variational nuclear motion calculations also include a simplified treatment of nonadiabatic effects. This sophisticated procedure to compute rovibrational energy levels reproduces all the known rovibrational levels of the water isotopologues considered, H(2) (16)O, H(2) (17)O, H(2) (18)O, and D(2) (16)O, to better than 1 cm(-1) on average. Finally, prospects for further improvement of the ground-state adiabatic ab initio PESs of water are discussed.     

Full S matrix calculation via a single real-symmetric Lanczos recursion: the Lanczos artificial boundary inhomogeneity method

We present an efficient and robust method for the calculation of all S matrix elements (elastic, inelastic, and reactive) over an arbitrary energy range from a single real-symmetric Lanczos recursion. Our new method transforms the fundamental equations associated with Light's artificial boundary inhomogeneity approach from the primary representation (original grid or basis representation of the Hamiltonian or its function) into a single tridiagonal Lanczos representation, thereby affording an iterative version of the original algorithm with greatly superior scaling properties. The method has important advantages over existing iterative quantum dynamical scattering methods: (a) the numerically intensive matrix propagation proceeds with real symmetric algebra, which is inherently more stable than its complex symmetric counterpart; (b) no complex absorbing potential or real damping operator is required, saving much of the exterior grid space which is commonly needed to support these operators and also removing the associated parameter dependence. Test calculations are presented for the collinear H+H(2) reaction, revealing excellent performance characteristics.     

Separation of the vibrational,rotational, and translational motions of polyatomic molecules using curvilinear vibrational coordinates

A new method is suggested for separating the vibrational, rotational, and translational motions of polyatomic molecules using curvilinear vibrational coordinates that are linear with respect to the natural vibrational coordinates. It is shown that, in this case, Coriolis interactions between the vibrational and rotational motions are absent. The solutions of the anharmonic vibrational-rotational problems in the curvilinear and linear vibrational coordinates are compared. The absence of Coriolis interactions between the vibrational and rotational motions in the curvilinear vibrational coordinates is proved numerically. The same conclusion is additionally supported by calculations of the anharmonic vibrational energy levels for the H₂O, H₂S, NO₂, SO₂, and ClO₂ molecules in the linear and curvilinear vibrational coordinates using the Hamiltonian designed in the curvilinear vibrational coordinates with and without Coriolis vibrational-rotational interactions. Volgograd Pedagogical University. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 239–254, March–April, 1995. Translated by I. Izvekova     

Photoionization-induced dynamics of the ammonia cation studied by wave packet calculations using curvilinear coordinates

The determination of the photoelectron spectrum of NH₃ and of the internal conversion dynamics of recently published [A. Viel, W. Eisfeld, S. Neumann, W. Domcke, U. Manthe, J. Chem. Phys. 124 (2006) 214306] is complemented by the investigation of the effect of the vibrational angular momenta couplings on the dynamics. The multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree method is used to propagate a wave packet on the analytical anharmonic six-dimensional three-sheeted potential energy surface for the ground and first excited states of the ammonia cation. Curvilinear coordinates and the associated quasi-exact kinetic energy operator suitable for the multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree scheme are employed. A non-negligible effect of the use of Cartesian normal modes instead of the curvilinear coordinates is observed on the low energy part of the photoelectron spectrum. However, the three different time scales found in the dynamical calculations for the second absorption band are very similar regardless of the use of either normal modes or curvilinear coordinates.     

Full-dimensional quantum calculations of vibrational spectra of six-atom molecules. I. Theory and numerical results

Two quantum mechanical Hamiltonians have been derived in orthogonal polyspherical coordinates, which can be formed by Jacobi and/or Radau vectors etc., for the study of the vibrational spectra of six-atom molecules. The Hamiltonians are expressed in an explicit Hermitian form in the spatial representation. Their matrix representations are described in both full discrete variable representation (DVR) and mixed DVR/nondirect product finite basis representation (FBR) bases. The two-layer Lanczos iteration algorithm [H.-G. Yu, J. Chem. Phys. 117, 8190 (2002)] is employed to solve the eigenvalue problem of the system. A strategy regarding how to carry out the Hamiltonian-vector products for a high-dimensional problem is discussed. By exploiting the inversion symmetry of molecules, a unitary sequential 1D matrix-vector multiplication algorithm is proposed to perform the action of the Hamiltonian on the wavefunction in a symmetrically adapted DVR or FBR basis in the azimuthal angular variables. An application to the vibrational energy levels of the molecular hydrogen trimer (H2)3 in full dimension (12D) is presented. Results show that the rigid-H2 approximation can underestimate the binding energy of the trimer by 27%. Finally, it is demonstrated that the two-layer Lanczos algorithm is also capable of computing the eigenvectors of the system with minor effort.     

Rovibrational interactions in linear triatomic molecules: a theoretical study in curvilinear vibrational coordinates

Variational solution of the rovibrational problem in curvilinear vibrational coordinates has been implemented and used to investigate the nuclear motions in several linear triatomic molecules, like HCN, OCS, and HCP. The dependence of the rovibrational energy levels on the rotational quantum numbers and the l-doubling has been studied. Two approximations to the rovibrational Hamiltonian have been examined, depending on the level of truncation of the potential energy operator. It turns out that the truncation after the fifth order in the potential is sufficient to produce vibrational energies of high accuracy. An interesting feature of the present formulation of the problem in terms of the curvilinear vibrational coordinates is the explanation of the l-doubling of the rovibrational levels, which in this picture is interpreted as the result of the inequivalency of the average rotational constants in mutually perpendicular planes, rather than as the effect of the Coriolis-type interactions between the vibrational and rotational motions. The present theoretical results are compared with the available experimental data from high-resolution spectroscopy, as well as with other ab initio calculations.     

A rigorous full-dimensional quantum dynamics calculation of the vibrational energies of H3O-2

The vibrational energy levels of the H(3)O-(2) anion have been calculated using a rigorous quantum dynamics method based on an accurate ab initio potential energy surface. The eigenvalue problem is solved using the two-layer Lanczos iterative diagonalization algorithm in a mixed grid/nondirect product basis set, where the system Hamiltonian is expressed in a set of orthogonal polyspherical coordinates. The lowest 312 vibrational energy levels in each inversion symmetry, together with a comparison of fundamental frequencies with previous quantum dynamics calculations, are reported. Finally, a statistical analysis of nearest level spacing distribution is carried out, revealing a strongly chaotic nature.