Molecular states of atoms. II

Orbital energy parameters, previously obtained from atomic valence state energies, are used in calculating approximate wave functions for their orbitals. The radial factors of these wave functions are expressed as linear combinations of three Gaussian type orbitals with selected exponents, the coefficients being determined by normalisation and reproduction of the kinetic energy and interelectron repulsion parameters. Wave functions of universal form are obtained for the non-transition elements up to xenon. Each calculated s orbital wave function (except 1s) has a radial node, as is appropriate if there is a p orbital in the same shell with none.     

Localization measure and maximum delocalization in molecular systems

A mathematically well-defined measure of localization is presented based on Mulliken's orbital populations. It is shown that this quantity equals 1 for core- and lone-pair orbitals, 2 for two-atomic bonds, 6 for benzene rings, etc., and it is applicable for delocalized canonical HF orbitals as well. The definition of this quantity is general in the sense that ab initio MOS with overlapping AO expansion, and semiempirical wave functions using the ZDO approximation as well, can be treated. The localization quantity is essentially “intrinsic,” i.e., no subdivision of the molecule is required. For N-electron wave functions, mean delocalization can be defined. This measure is not invariant to unitary transformations of the one-electron orbitals, characterizing in this way the localized or extended representation of the N-electron wave function. It can be proven, however, that for unitary transformed wave functions a maximum delocalization exists which depends only on the physical (N-electron) properties of the molecule. It is shown that inhomogeneous charge distribution can cause strong electron localization in molecular systems. The delocalization of the canonical Hartree–Fock orbitals, the Parr–Chen circulant orbitals, and the optimum delocalized orbitals is studied by numerical calculations in extended systems.     

Ab initio through‐space/bond interaction analysis of the long C–C bonds in Bi(anthracene‐9,10‐dimethylene) photoisomers

The bi(anthracene‐9,10‐dimethylene) photoisomer has remarkably long C–C single bonds. To examine the lengthening of the C–C bond, we propose a novel procedure for quantitatively analyzing orbital interactions in a molecule at the level of the ab initio molecular orbital method. In this procedure, we can cut off the specific through‐space/bond interactions in a molecule by artificially increasing the absolute magnitude of the exponents in a Gaussian function. Then, the spatial orbital interactions were perfectly cut off, and, each term that makes up the total energy, that is, the nuclear–electron attractions, the electron–electron repulsions, and the nuclear–nuclear repulsions cancel each other. Several model molecules of the photoisomer were analyzed by this procedure. It was found that the orbital interaction between the p orbital on the benzene ring and the σ* orbital on the C–C bond in question, σ→σ* electron transfer through π orbital, weakens the C–C bond efficiently when these orbitals were located in the “periplanar” conformation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Acceleration of self‐consistent field convergence in ab initio molecular dynamics simulation with multiconfigurational wave function

The Lagrange interpolation of molecular orbital (LIMO) method, which reduces the number of self‐consistent field iterations in ab initio molecular dynamics simulations with the Hartree–Fock method and the Kohn–Sham density functional theories, is extended to the theory of multiconfigurational wave functions. We examine two types of treatments for the active orbitals that are partially occupied. The first treatment, as denoted by LIMO(C), is a simple application of the conventional LIMO method to the union of the inactive core and the active orbitals. The second, as denoted by LIMO(S), separately treats the inactive core and the active orbitals. Numerical tests to compare the two treatments clarify that LIMO(S) is superior to LIMO(C). Further applications of LIMO(S) to various systems demonstrate its effectiveness and robustness. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Linear Approximation of Basis Set Orbital Exponents for Isoelectronic Series of Atoms

The orbital exponents of Slater type atomic orbitals (AOs) in isoelectronic series of atoms may be approximated by the linear dependence on the nuclear charge using a technique developed for optimization of AO basis sets in Hartree–Fock–Roothaan calculations. This approach yields the analytical Hartree–Fock wave functions for any ion in the isoelectronic atomic series without optimization of orbital exponents. The approximated linear equations for atomic orbital basis sets of B, C, O, and F in the ground state are presented as an example.     

Photoionization cross sections with optimized orbital exponents within the complex basis function method

We show a new direction to expand the applicability of the complex basis function method for calculating photoionization cross sections through the imaginary part of the frequency-dependent polarizability. Based on the variational stability of the frequency-dependent polarizability, we made nonlinear optimizations of complex orbital exponents in basis functions representing continuum wave functions, and obtained fairly accurate results for H atom with only one or two complex basis functions particularly with dipole velocity gauge. Results were almost independent of whether Slater-type or Gaussian-type orbitals are used, implying the applicability to general many electron problems. The method was also applied to the (1)S (1s)(2) --> (1)P (1s)(1)(kp)(1) cross section of He atom and the optimized complex orbital exponents were related to those of H atom through the scaling property. The nonlinear optimizations have converged smoothly and the cross sections were in excellent agreement with experiment throughout wide photon energies, which suggest the effectiveness of the approach for many-electron systems.     

Analytical Hartree–Fock wave functions subject to cusp and asymptotic constraints: He to Xe,Li+ to Cs+, H− to I−

Analytical, variational approximations to Hartree–Fock wave functions are constructed for the ground states of all the neutral atoms from He to Xe, the cations from Li⁺ to Cs⁺, and the stable anions from H⁻ to I⁻. The wave functions are constrained so that each atomic orbital agrees well with the electron–nuclear cusp condition and has good long‐range behavior. Painstaking optimization of the exponents and principal quantum numbers of the Slater‐type basis functions allows us to reach this goal while obtaining total energies that, at worst, are a few microHartrees above the numerical Hartree–Fock limit values. The wave functions are freely available by anonymous ftp from okapi.chem.unb.ca or upon request to the authors. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 71: 491–497, 1999     

Local orbitals by minimizing powers of the orbital variance

It is demonstrated that a set of local orthonormal Hartree-Fock (HF) molecular orbitals can be obtained for both the occupied and virtual orbital spaces by minimizing powers of the orbital variance using the trust-region algorithm. For a power exponent equal to one, the Boys localization function is obtained. For increasing power exponents, the penalty for delocalized orbitals is increased and smaller maximum orbital spreads are encountered. Calculations on superbenzene, C(60), and a fragment of the titin protein show that for a power exponent equal to one, delocalized outlier orbitals may be encountered. These disappear when the exponent is larger than one. For a small penalty, the occupied orbitals are more local than the virtual ones. When the penalty is increased, the locality of the occupied and virtual orbitals becomes similar. In fact, when increasing the cardinal number for Dunning's correlation consistent basis sets, it is seen that for larger penalties, the virtual orbitals become more local than the occupied ones. We also show that the local virtual HF orbitals are significantly more local than the redundant projected atomic orbitals, which often have been used to span the virtual orbital space in local correlated wave function calculations. Our local molecular orbitals thus appear to be a good candidate for local correlation methods.     

Full variational molecular orbital method: Application to the positron-molecule complexes

Optimal Gaussian-type orbital (GTO) basis sets of positron and electron in positron-molecule complexes are proposed by using the full variational treatment of molecular orbital (FVMO) method. The analytical expression for the energy gradient with respect to parameters of positronic and electronic GTO such as the orbital exponents, the orbital centers, and the linear combination of atomic orbital (LCAO) coefficients, is derived. Wave functions obtained by the FVMO method include the effect of electronic or positronic orbital relaxation explicitly and satisfy the virial and Hellmann–Feynman theorems completely. We have demonstrated the optimization of each orbital exponent in various positron-atomic and anion systems, and estimated the positron affinity (PA) as the difference between their energies. Our PA obtained with small basis set is in good agreement with the numerical Hartree–Fock result. We have calculated the OH⁻ and [OH⁻; e⁺] species as the positron-molecular system by the FVMO method. This result shows that the positronic basis set not only becomes more diffuse but also moves toward the oxygen atom. Moreover, we have applied this method to determine both the nuclear and electronic wave functions of LiH and LiD molecules simultaneously, and obtained the isotopic effect directly. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 70: 491–501, 1998     

Pauli repulsion in the open shell species BeH and Co+

Using the natural bond orbital method, one may associate the valence bond configuration and Lewis structure concepts to wave functions consisting of molecular orbitals and thus gain intuitive insight into the molecular potential energy curves. Natural bond orbital analysis of the restricted open shell Hartree–Fock and unrestricted Hartree–Fock wave functions for the BeH ground state provides an intuitive model to help understand the nature of the bonding in this open shell species. The contrasting behavior of the bonding orbitals for different spins can be attributed to differences in the Pauli repulsive interactions with the lonepair orbitals. Such behavior occurs in BeH(²Σ) but does not in CO⁺(²Π) because the Pauli repulsion depends on the orbital overlap.     

A MCSCF method for ground and excited states based on full optimizations of successive Jacobi rotations

A new multiconfigurational self-consistent field (MCSCF) method based on successive optimizations of Jacobi rotation angles is presented. For given one- and two-particle density matrices and an initial set of corresponding integrals, a technique is developed for the determination of a Jacobi angle for the mixing of two orbitals, such that the exact energy, written as a function of the angle, is fully minimized. Determination of the energy-minimizing orbitals for given density matrices is accomplished by successive optimization and updating of Jacobi angles and integrals. The total MCSCF energy is minimized by alternating between CI and orbital optimization steps. Efficiency is realized by optimizing CI and orbital vectors quasi-simultaneously by not fully optimizing each in each improvement step. On the basis of the Jacobi-rotation based approach, a novel MCSCF procedure is formulated for excited states, which avoids certain shortcomings of traditional excited-state MCSCF methods. Applications to specific systems show the practicability of the developed methods.     

X-ray and electron scattering factors for many-electron atomic system

Analytical expressions are developed for the x-ray and electron scattering factors for a many-electron atomic system when the single configuration wave function of the system is written as a sum of Slater determinants of spin orbitals. The radial part of the orbital is expanded in terms of Slater-type orbitals (STO 's). The expressions so developed have been used to calculate the coherent and incoherent x-ray and electron scattering factors and intensities for all the neutral atoms up to krypton (Z = 36) and for some positive and negative ions of chemical interest. The results obtained are used to test the value of Hartree–Fock wave functions for the evaluation of “one-electron properties” of many-electron atomic systems.     

On the suitability of strictly localized orbitals for hybrid QM/MM calculations

In the QM/MM method we have developed (LSCF/MM), the QM and the MM parts are held together by means of strictly localized bonding orbitals (SLBOs). Generally these SLBOs are derived from localized bond orbitals (LBOs) that undergo tails deletion, resulting in a nonpredictable change of their properties. An alternative set of SLBOs is provided by the extremely localized molecular orbitals (ELMOs) approach, where the orbitals are rigorously localized on some prefixed atoms without tails on the other atoms of the molecule. A comparative study of SLBOs arising from various localization schemes and ELMOs is presented to test the reliability and the transferability of these functions within the Local Self-Consistent Field (LSCF) framework. Two types of chemical bonds were considered: C--C and C--O single bonds. The localized functions are obtained on the ethane and the methanol molecules, and are tested on beta-alanine and diethyl ether molecules. Moreover, the various protonation forms of beta-alanine have been investigated to illustrate how well the polarity variation of the chemical bond can be handled throughout a chemical process. At last, rotation energy profiles around C--C and C--O bonds are reproduced for butane and fluoromethanol. Energetic, geometric, as well as electronic factors all indicate that ELMO functions are much more transferable from one molecule to another, leading to results closer to the usual SCF reference than any other calculations involving any other localized orbitals. When the shape of the orbital is the most important factor then ELMO functions will perform as well as any other localized orbital.     

Analytical optimization of orbital exponents in Gaussian-type functions for molecular systems based on MCSCF and MP2 levels of fully variational molecular orbital method

We have analyzed the basis function series in molecular systems by optimization of orbital exponents in Gaussian-type functions (GTFs) including the electron correlation effects with multiconfiguration self-consistent field (MCSCF) and M?ller?CPlesset second-order perturbation (MP2) methods. First, we have derived and implemented the gradient formulas of MCSCF and MP2 energies with respect to GTF exponent, as well as GTF center and nuclear geometry, based on the fully variational molecular orbital (FVMO) method. Second, we have applied these electron-correlated FVMO methods to H₂, LiH, and hydrocarbon (CH₄, C₂H₆, C₂H₄, and C₂H₂) molecules. We have clearly demonstrated that the optimized exponent values with electron-correlated methods are different from those with simple Hartree?CFock method, since adequate basis functions for adequate virtual orbitals are indispensable to describe the accurate wave function and geometry for electron-correlated calculations.     

Atomic orbital basis sets for use with effective core potentials

Basis sets developed for use with effective core potentials describe pseudo‐orbitals rather than orbitals. The primitive Gaussian functions and the contraction coefficients in the basis set must therefore both describe the valence region effectively and allow the pseudo‐orbital to be small in the core region. The latter is particularly difficult using 1s primitive functions, which have their maxima at the nucleus. Several methods of choosing contraction coefficients are tried, and it is found that natural orbitals give the best results. The number and optimization of primitive functions are done following Dunning's correlation‐consistent procedure. Optimization of orbital exponents for larger atoms frequently results in coalescence of adjacent exponents; use of orbitals with higher principal quantum number is one alternative. Actinide atoms or ions provide the most difficult cases in that basis sets must be optimized for valence shells of different radial size simultaneously considering correlation energy and spin‐orbit energy. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 77: 516–520, 2000     

Localization of molecular orbitals on fragments

A non‐iterative algorithm for the localization of molecular orbitals (MOs) from complete active space self consistent field (CASSCF) and for single‐determinantal wave functions on predefined moieties is given. The localized fragment orbitals can be used to analyze chemical reactions between fragments and also the binding of fragments in the product molecule with a fragments‐in‐molecules approach by using a valence bond expansion of the CASSCF wave function. The algorithm is an example of the orthogonal Procrustes problem, which is a matrix optimization problem using the singular value decomposition. It is based on the similarity of the set of MOs for the moieties to the localized MOs of the molecule; the similarity is expressed by overlap matrices between the original fragment MOs and the localized MOs. For CASSCF wave functions, localization is done independently in the space of occupied orbitals and active orbitals, whereas, the space of virtual orbitals is mostly uninteresting. Localization of Hartree–Fock or Kohn–Sham density functional theory orbitals is not straightforward; rather, it needs careful consideration, because in this case some virtual orbitals are needed but the space of virtual orbitals depends on the basis sets used and causes considerable problems due to the diffuse character of most virtual orbitals. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Perturbational approach to the electron correlation cusp applied to helium‐like atoms

A recently proposed perturbational approach to the electron correlation cusp problem 1 is tested in the context of three spherically symmetrical two‐electron systems: helium atom, hydride anion, and a solvable model system. The interelectronic interaction is partitioned into long‐ and short‐range components. The long‐range interaction, lacking the singularities responsible for the electron correlation cusp, is included in the reference Hamiltonian. Accelerated convergence of orbital‐based methods for this smooth reference Hamiltonian is shown by a detailed partial wave analysis. Contracted orbital basis sets constructed from atomic natural orbitals are shown to be significantly better for the new Hamiltonian than standard basis sets of the same size. The short‐range component becomes the perturbation. The low‐order perturbation equations are solved variationally using basis sets of correlated Gaussian geminals. Variational energies and low‐order perturbation wave functions for the model system are shown to be in excellent agreement with highly accurate numerical solutions for that system. Approximations of the reference wave functions, described by fewer basis functions, are tested for use in the perturbation equations and shown to provide significant computational advantages with tolerable loss of accuracy. Lower bounds for the radius of convergence of the resulting perturbation expansions are estimated. The proposed method is capable of achieving sub‐μHartree accuracy for all systems considered here. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2003     

An efficient algorithm for complete active space valence bond self‐consistent field calculation

This article describes a novel algorithm for the optimization of valence bond self‐consistent field (VBSCF) wave function for a complete active space (CAS), so‐called VBSCF(CAS). This was achieved by applying the strategies adopted in the optimization of CASSCF wave functions to VBSCF(CAS) wave functions, using an auxiliary orthogonal orbital set that generates the same configuration space as the original nonorthogonal orbital set. Theoretical analyses and test calculations show that the VBSCF(CAS) method shares the same computational scaling as CASSCF. The test calculations show the current capability of VBSCF method, which involves millions of VB structures. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Iterative diagonalization for orbital optimization in natural orbital functional theory

A challenging task in natural orbital functional theory is to find an efficient procedure for doing orbital optimization. Procedures based on diagonalization techniques have confirmed its practical value since the resulting orbitals are automatically orthogonal. In this work, a new procedure is introduced, which yields the natural orbitals by iterative diagonalization of a Hermitian matrix F . The off‐diagonal elements of the latter are determined explicitly from the hermiticity of the matrix of the Lagrange multipliers. An expression for diagonal elements is absent so a generalized Fockian is undefined in the conventional sense, nevertheless, they may be determined from an aufbau principle. Thus, the diagonal elements are obtained iteratively considering as starting values those coming from a single diagonalization of the matrix of the Lagrange multipliers calculated with the Hartree‐Fock orbitals after the occupation numbers have been optimized. The method has been tested on the G2/97 set of molecules for the Piris natural orbital functional. To help the convergence, we have implemented a variable scaling factor which avoids large values of the off‐diagonal elements of F . The elapsed times of the computations required by the proposed procedure are compared with a full sequential quadratic programming optimization, so that the efficiency of the method presented here is demonstrated. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2009