Commutator perturbation method in the study of vibrational–rotational spectra of diatomic molecules

The commutator perturbation method, an algebraic version of the Van Vleck–Primas perturbation method, expressed in terms of ladder operators, has been applied to solving the eigenvalue problem of the Hamiltonian describing the vibrational–rotational motion of a diatomic molecule. The physical model used in this work is based on Dunham's approach. The method facilitates obtaining both energies and eigenvectors in an algebraic way. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 77: 721–726, 2000     

Use of the normal coordinates in variational and perturbative ab initio handling of the vibronic and spin–orbit couplings in Π electronic states of linear tetra‐atomic molecules

Avariational and a perturbative approach are developed to handle the combined effect of the vibronic and spin–orbit couplings in Π electronic states of tetra‐atomic molecules with linear equilibrium geometry. Both of them are based on the use of the normal vibrational bending coordinates. The perturbative treatment is carried out via two schemes for partition of the model Hamiltonian: In the first, the spin–orbit coupling term is treated as a perturbation; in the second, it is included in the zeroth‐order Hamiltonian. It is demonstrated that both perturbative approaches lead to the same second‐order formulae when the spin–orbit coupling constant is small compared to the bending frequency, but much larger than the splitting of potential surfaces upon bending. These approaches are used to calculate the vibronic and spin–orbit structure in the X²Π electronic state of HCCS by employing the ab initio‐computed potential energy surfaces. Complete numerical equivalence of the results obtained with the present variational approach and those generated by the algorithms employing internal vibrational coordinates is demonstrated. The restrictions concerning the applicability of the perturbative approaches are discussed in terms of the agreement between the results obtained by means of them with those generated in the corresponding variational computations. The general reliability of the model employed is checked by comparing the theoretical results with the available experimental data. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2003     

Effects of complex-valued electronic wave functions on nuclear motions

Moleculer species and colliding groups of atoms are considered for which the electronic wave functions are complex-valued, having arguments that depend parametrically on the nuclear coordinates. The effective Hamiltonian for nuclear motions in the adiabatic approximation that arises in the present case differs from the ordinary Born–Oppeneheimer Hamiltonian, the latter being obtained when restriction to real-valued electronic functions is made. The asymptotic boundary conditions imposed in collision theory lead to in- and out- states [8], and hence to complex-valued wave functions in the coordinate representation. The study of the influence of electron–molecule scattering on nuclear motions therefore necessitates the use of the new effective Hamiltonian, which leads to results differing from those predicted on the basis of the Born–Oppenheimer operator. It is shown that momentum-dependent potentials occurring in the new Hamiltonian might cause “distortions” to the vibrational patterns of some electron–molecule metastable states. Also, these terms can give rise to non-Born–Oppenheimer resonances when motions in an internuclear coordinate become unbounded. We derive expressions for the relevant level widths and line shapes, showing them to be subject to an isotope effect. Even when real-valued electronic functions may be used, the selections of complex-valued functions in their linear span is still optional. Although exact treatments lead to the same results in both real and complex cases we show how the choice of the argument of the electronic function to be non-zero and dependent on nuclear coordinates may be useful for the application of certain approximation schemes. It is demonstrated that for certain systems a suitable choice of the argument assures convergence when the related Lippmann–Schwinger Equation is iterated. It is also shown that in this way an nth order term in the series expansion of the T matrix [8] for moleculer systems can be made negligibly small.     

Vibrational spectrum of Li3 first‐excited electronic doublet state: Geometric‐phase effects and statistical analysis

We present J=0 calculations of all bound and pseudobound vibrational states of Li₃ in its first‐excited electronic doublet state by using a realistic double many‐body expansion potential‐energy surface and a minimum‐residual filter diagonalization technique. The action of the system Hamiltonian on the wave function was evaluated by the spectral transform method in hyperspherical coordinates. Calculations of the vibrational spectra were carried out both without consideration and with consideration of geometric‐phase effects. Dynamic Jahn–Teller and geometric‐phase effects are found to play a significant role, while the calculated fundamental symmetric stretching frequency is larger by 8.3% than its reported experimental value of 326 cm⁻¹. From the neighbor‐spacing distributions of the levels, it is observed that the title vibrational spectrum is quasiregular in the short range and quasi‐irregular in the long range. By the Δ₂ standard defined in this article, it is found that the spectra are more nonuniform than those of the “trough” states for the ground electronic state. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 75: 89–109, 1999     

Multi‐state multi‐reference Møller–Plesset second‐order perturbation theory for molecular calculations

This work presents multi‐state multi‐reference Møller–Plesset second‐order perturbation theory as a variant of multi‐reference perturbation theory to treat electron correlation in molecules. An effective Hamiltonian is constructed from the first‐order wave operator to treat several strongly interacting electronic states simultaneously. The wave operator is obtained by solving the generalized Bloch equation within the first‐order interaction space using a multi‐partitioning of the Hamiltonian based on multi‐reference Møller–Plesset second‐order perturbation theory. The corresponding zeroth‐order Hamiltonians are nondiagonal. To reduce the computational effort that arises from the nondiagonal generalized Fock operator, a selection procedure is used that divides the configurations of the first‐order interaction space into two sets based on the strength of the interaction with the reference space. In the weaker interacting set, only the projected diagonal part of the zeroth‐order Hamiltonian is taken into account. The justification of the approach is demonstrated in two examples: the mixing of valence Rydberg states in ethylene, and the avoided crossing of neutral and ionic potential curves in LiF. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006     

Analytical solution of vibrational–rotational energy transfer in the dissociation and relaxation of N2, Br2, and CO at high temperature

An approximate analytical solution of relaxation in a low-pressure system with exponential transition probabilities is given for vibrational–rotational energy transfer in the dissociation of diatomics. The main assumption is that the rotational degrees of freedom are in thermal equilibrium at all times, and that the barrier to dissociation in the vibrational–rotational plane is linear and asymmetric. The theory is applied to high-temperature dissociations of N₂, Br₂, and CO in excess argon, with satisfactory agreement with available experimental data.     

Expressing kinetic‐energy for vibration–rotation motions in general rotating systems of axes and introducing quasirectilinear vibrational coordinates to simplify Hamiltonian forms

To understand how the internal and rotational motions of a polyatomic system depend on which rotating system of axes is selected, we derived the explicit form of the atomic velocities determined by an observer stationed on the general rotating system of axes. Using the derived velocities, we formulated the kinetic energy expression for vibration–rotation motions with respect to the rotating system of axes. From this expression, we clarified covariant metric tensors under zero angular momentum, which have been confused with an erroneous expression even in the professional literature, and the relationship between the kinetic energy expression and the rotating system of axes. Furthermore, to simplify the Hamiltonian form, we introduced quasirectilinear vibrational coordinates to describe the Hamiltonian. The resulting Hamiltonian form is superior to those of the previous studies in that the kinetic and potential energy expressions are simple and the vibrational frequencies are independent of the original internal coordinates used. In fact, we show that its application for three examples is useful. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 83: 22–29, 2001     

Polyatomic,anharmonic, vibrational–rotational analysis. Application to accurate ab initio results for formaldehyde

A computer program SURVIB is described for calculating vibrational anharmonicity constants for polyatomic molecules. The program requires as input a grid of calculated energies in the vicinity of a stationary point. This grid is fit, in a least squares sense, to a polynomial function of the internal coordinates. This analytic representation of the energy surface is employed in a normal mode analysis, and the energy is reexpanded as a polynominal function of the normal mode coordinates (expressed as vectors in the mass-weighted atomic Cartesian coordinate space). The resulting coefficients are used in a second-order perturbation theory analysis to obtain the vibrational anharmonicity constants. Also reported is an application of this program to formaldehyde employing ab initio, RHF , MP 2, MP 3, and RHF -CI calculations. The spectroscopic constants obtained for H₂CO are in good agreement with experimentally derived values recently reported by Reisner.     

Generalized electronic diabatic scheme: Diagonalizing the electronic Hamiltonian for artificial molecular systems. How do molecular meccanos move?

A quantum–classic model is presented and used to describe systems ranging from normal molecules up to electronic systems sensed in real space. The quantum system is a set of n‐electrons; a positive background in real space completes the model. A generalized electronic diabatic (GED) theory is introduced. The diabatic functions diagonalize the electronic Hamiltonian for any arrangement of the positive background. Physical quantum states are represented as linear superpositions in the diabatic basis; this latter is always fixed. For systems sensed in real space, the coefficients of the linear superposition are functions of the real space configuration coordinates. Physical changes are produced by interactions with external sources/sinks of energy. An interaction couples different diabatic states; diagonalizing the electronic Hamiltonian plus the couplings leads to new coefficients describing physical states. Among other things, these couplings can be used to simulate the effects produced by scanning tunneling microscopy, atomic force, and transmission electron microscopy on substrates located in real space. The important thing is that time–evolution in electronic Hilbert space can be related to actual motion in real space. The experiment of lateral hopping of a substrate on a metallic surface induced by vibration excitation and followed with scanning tunneling microscope is discussed. A result of the present work is that motion of molecular meccanos reflects then time–evolution in electronic Hilbert space. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2004     

Hartree–Fock instabilities and electronic properties

Hartree–Fock instabilities are investigated for about 80 compounds, from acetylene to mivazerol (27 atoms) and a cluster of 18 water molecules, within a double ζ basis set. For most conjugated systems, the restricted Hartree–Fock wave function of the singlet fundamental state presents an external or so‐called triplet instability. This behavior is studied in relation with the electronic correlation, the vicinity of the triplet and singlet excited states, the electronic delocalization linked with resonance, the nature of eventual heteroatoms, and the size of the systems. The case of antiaromatic systems is different, because they may present a very large internal Hartree–Fock instability. Furthermore, the violation of Hund's rule, observed for these compounds, is put in relation with the fact that the high symmetry structure in its singlet state has no feature of a diradical‐like species. It appears that the triplet Hartree–Fock instability is directly related with the spin properties of nonnull orbital angular momentum electronic systems. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 21: 483–504, 2000     

Diagrammatic formulation of the second‐order many‐body multipartitioning perturbation theory

The second‐order multireference perturbation theory employing multiple partitioning of the many‐electron Hamiltonian into a zero‐order part and a perturbation is formulated in terms of many‐body diagrams. The essential difference from the standard diagrammatic technique of Hose and Kaldor concerns the rules of evaluation of energy denominators which take into account the dependence of the Hamiltonian partitioning on the bra and ket determinantal vectors of a given matrix element, as well as the presence of several two‐particle terms in zero‐order operators. The novel formulation naturally gives rise to a “sum‐over‐orbital” procedure of correlation calculations on molecular electronic states, particularly efficient in treating the problems with large number of correlated electrons and extensive one‐electron bases. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 73: 395–401, 1999     

Theory of electronic circular dichroism lineshapes

A microscopic, quantum field theory of lineshapes for electronic circular dichroism spectra is presented. A simple, model Hamiltonian for a single impurity in a crystal is considered. In this formalism, electron-photon coupling terms contribute directly to the magnetic transition dipole moment. Lineshape functions for absorbance and circular dichroism spectra are derived. Electronic circular dichroism spectra contain vibronic contributions which do not appear in absorbance spectra. This treatment does not require perturbation theory to obtain the vibrational contribution to the circular dichroism lineshape.     

Femtosecond primary events in bacteriorhodopsin and its retinal modified analogs: revision of commonly accepted interpretation of electronic spectra of transient intermediates in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle

Femtosecond primary events in bacteriorhodopsin (BR) and its retinal modified analogs are discussed. Ultrafast time resolved electronic spectra of the primary intermediates induced in the BR photocycle are discussed along with spectral and kinetic inconsistencies of the previous models proposed in the literature. The theoretical model proposed in this paper based on vibrational coupling between the electronic transition of the chromophore and intramolecular vibrational modes allows us to calculate the equilibrium electronic absorption band shape and the hole burning profiles. The model is able to rationalize the complex pattern of behavior for the primary events in BR and explain the origin of the apparent inconsistencies between the experiment and the previous theoretical models. The model presented in the paper is based on the anharmonic coupling assumption in the adiabatic approximation using the canonical transformation method for diagonalization of the vibrational Hamiltonian instead of the commonly used perturbation theory. The electronic transition occurs between the Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surfaces with the electron involved in the transition being coupled to the intramolecular vibrational modes of the molecule (chromophore). The relaxation of the excited state occurs by indirect damping (dephasing) mechanisms. The indirect dephasing is governed by the time evolution of the anharmonic coupling constant driven by the resonance energy exchange between the intramolecular vibrational mode and the bath. The coupling with the intramolecular vibrational modes results in the Franck-Condon progression of bands that are broadened due to the vibrational dephasing mechanisms. The electronic absorption line shape has been calculated based on the linear response theory whereas the third order nonlinear response functions have been used to analyze the hole burning profiles obtained from the pump-probe time-resolved measurements. The theoretical treatment proposed in this paper provides a basis for a substantial revision of the commonly accepted interpretation of the primary events in the BR photocycle that exists in the literature.     

BSSE‐corrected geometry and harmonic and anharmonic vibrational frequencies of formamide–water and formamide–formamide dimers

The basis set superposition error (BSSE) influence in the geometry structure, interaction energies, and intermolecular harmonic and anharmonic vibrational frequencies of cyclic formamide–formamide and formamide–water dimers have been studied using different basis sets (6‐31G, 6‐31G**, 6‐31++G**, D95V, D95V**, and D95V++**). The a posteriori “counterpoise” (CP) correction scheme has been compared with the a priori “chemical Hamiltonian approach” (CHA) both at the Hartree–Fock (HF) and second‐order Møller–Plesset many‐body perturbation (MP2) levels of theory. The effect of BSSE on geometrical parameters, interaction energies, and intermolecular harmonic vibrational frequencies are discussed and compared with the existing experimental data. As expected, the BSSE‐free CP and CHA interaction energies usually show less deep minima than those obtained from the uncorrected methods at both the HF and MP2 levels. Focusing on the correlated level, the amount of BSSE in the intermolecular interaction energies is much larger than that at the HF level, and this effect is also conserved in the values of the force constants and harmonic vibrational frequencies. All these results clearly indicate the importance of the proper BSSE‐free correlation treatment with the well‐defined basis functions. At the same time, the results show a good agreement between the a priori CHA and a posteriori CP correction scheme; this agreement is remarkable in the case of large and well‐balanced basis sets. The anharmonic frequency correction values also show an important BSSE dependence, especially for hydrogen bond stretching and for low frequencies belonging to the intermolecular normal modes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

Ab initio and direct quasiclassical-trajectory study of the Cl + CH4-->HCl + CH3 reaction

We present an electronic structure and dynamics study of the Cl + CH(4)--> HCl + CH(3) reaction. We have characterized the stationary points of the ground-state potential-energy surface using various electronic structure methods and basis sets. Our best calculations, CCSD(T) extrapolated to the complete basis-set limit based on geometries and harmonic frequencies obtained at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pvtz level, are in agreement with the experimental reaction energy and indirect measurements of the barrier height. Using ab initio information, we have reparametrized a semiempirical Hamiltonian so that the predictions of the improved Hamiltonian agree with the higher-level calculations in various regions of the potential-energy surface. This improved semiempirical Hamiltonian is then used to propagate quasiclassical trajectories and characterize the reaction dynamics. The good agreement of the calculated HCl rotational and angular distributions with the experiment indicates that reparametrizing semiempirical Hamiltonians is a promising approach to derive accurate potential-energy surfaces for polyatomic reactions. However, excessive energy leakage from the initial vibrational energy of the CH(4) molecule to the reaction coordinate in the trajectory calculations calls into question the suitability of the standard quasiclassical-trajectory method to describe energy partitioning in polyatomic reactions.     

Optimization of molecular electronic structure calculations. 2. Calculation of symmetry-reduced matrix elements

A suggested formalism of the local symmetricized orbitals in conjunction with the selection technique for independent blocks of integrals in an original basis is used for a construction of multielectron Hamiltonian matrix elements in the symmetry orbital basis. The optimal molecular electronic structure calculation algorithm with the Hartree–Fock–Roothaan method in the symmetricized basis was obtained as a result. The minimal number of fundamentally distinguished (symmetry attributed) elements both in original and in symmetricized basis is used in the calculations.     

Perturbation–variational methods revisited

We describe a simple expansion of the Krylov type for the estimation of the electronic correlation energy of the ground state of closed-shell systems and show its relationship with Brillouin–Wigner perturbation theory. We demonstrate the Brillouin–Wigner perturbation theory can be quickly solved in a noniterative fashion. Examples are presented using the intermediate neglect of the differential overlap model Hamiltonian (INDO /1), which indicates that this scheme captures well over 95% of the configuration interaction over double excitations method (CID ) in a fraction of the computational effort. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The generalized Slater–Condon rules

By relating the blocking structure of the relevant matrix of overlap-integrals to its cofactors, the Slater–Condon rules for the evaluation of an element of a matrix representation of an electronic Hamiltonian in a Slater determinant basis are generalized to the case where not all orbitals are orthogonal. This yields a set of 33 rules, which allows for an efficient implementation of the valence bond theory.     

Theoretical study of spectroscopic and molecular properties of several low‐lying electronic states of CO molecule

The potential energy curves (PECs) of eight low‐lying electronic states (X¹Σ⁺, a³Π, a′³Σ⁺, d³Δ, e³Σ^?, A¹Π, I¹Σ^?, and D¹Δ) of the carbon monoxide molecule have been studied by an ab initio quantum chemical method. The calculations have been performed using the complete active space self‐consistent field method, which is followed by the valence internally contracted multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach in combination with the correlation‐consistent aug‐cc‐pV5Z basis set. The effects on the PECs by the core‐valence correlation and relativistic corrections are included. The way to consider the relativistic corrections is to use the third‐order Douglas–Kroll Hamiltonian approximation at the level of a cc‐pV5Z basis set. Core‐valence correlation corrections are performed using the cc‐pCVQZ basis set. To obtain more reliable results, the PECs determined by the MRCI calculations are corrected for size‐extensivity errors by means of the Davidson modification (MRCI+Q). The spectroscopic parameters (D_e, T_e, R_e, ω_e, ω_ex_e, ω_ey_e, B_e, α_e, and γ_e) of these electronic states are calculated using these PECs. The spectroscopic parameters are compared with those reported in the literature. Using the Breit–Pauli operator, the spin–orbit coupling effect on the spectroscopic parameters is discussed for the a³Π electronic state. With the PECs obtained by the MRCI+Q/aug‐cc‐pV5Z+CV+DK calculations, the complete vibrational states of each electronic state have been determined. The vibrational manifolds have been calculated for each vibrational state of each electronic state. The vibrational level G(ν), inertial rotation constant B_ν, and centrifugal distortion constant D_ν of the first 20 vibrational states when the rotational quantum number J equals zero are reported and compared with the experimental data. Comparison with the measurements demonstrates that the present spectroscopic parameters and molecular constants determined by the MRCI+Q/aug‐cc‐pV5Z+CV+DK calculations are both reliable and accurate. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Degree of electron–nuclear entanglement in molecular states

The degree of electron–nuclear entanglement in molecular states is analyzed. This entanglement has, generally, two sources: delocalization of the electronic and nuclear wave functions and vibronic coupling. For a diatomic molecular ground‐state with a single potential energy minimum, it is demonstrated that the entanglement is a function of the product of the vibrational energy and the Born–Huang potential energy correction evaluated at the minimum. In the case of a double‐well potential energy surface, the deviation from maximal entanglement is determined by the overlap of the electronic and nuclear wave functions evaluated at and around the two minima. The adiabatic states of the E⊗ϵ Jahn–Teller model are shown to be maximally entangled and a relation between the degree of entanglement and Ham's reduction factor for this model is derived. Numerical calculations in the E⊗ϵ model demonstrate a nontrivial relation between entanglement and vibronic coupling. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 77: 526–533, 2000