Linear response time-dependent density functional theory for van der Waals coefficients

A linear response time-dependent density functional theory is described and used to calculate the dynamic polarizabilities and van der Waals C(6) coefficients of complex atom pairs. We present values of C(6) for dimers of main group atoms and the first row of transition metal atoms.     

Fully retarded van der Waals interaction between dielectric nanoclusters

The van der Waals (dispersion) interaction between an atom and a cluster or between two clusters at large separation is calculated by considering each cluster as a point particle, characterized by a polarizability tensor. For the extreme limit of very large separation, the fully retarded regime, one needs to know just the static polarizability in order to determine the interaction. This polarizability is evaluated by including all many-body (MB) intracluster atomic interactions self-consistently. The results of these calculations are compared with those obtained from various alternative methods. One is to consider each cluster as a collection of many atoms and evaluate the sum of two-body interatomic interactions, a common assumption. An alternative method is to include three-body atomic interactions as a MB correction term in the total energy. A comparison of these results reveals that the contribution of the higher-than-three-body MB interactions is always attractive and non-negligible even at such a large separation, in contrast to common assumptions. The procedure employed is quite general and is applicable, in principle, to any shape or size of dielectric cluster. We present numerical results for clusters composed of atoms with polarizability consistent with silica, for which the higher-than-three-body MB correction term can be as high as 42% of the atomic pairwise sum. This result is quite sensitive to the anisotropy and orientation of the cluster, in contrast to the result found in the additive case. We also present a power law expansion of the total van der Waals interaction as a series of n-body interaction terms.     

Static dipole polarizability of ytterbium

The static dipole polarizability of the ground state ytterbium atom is calculated using full and approximate relativistic ab initio methods. Our recommended polarizability of 143 au is consistent with experimental atomic spectral data. The corresponding van der Waals coefficient C6 of Yb2, derived using Padé approximants, is 2062 (200) au.     

An ab initio study of van der Waals potential energy parameters for silver clusters

We employ ab initio calculations of van der Waals complexes to study the potential energy parameters (C(6) coefficients) of van der Waals interactions for modeling of the adsorption of silver clusters on the graphite surface. Electronic structure calculations of the (Ag(2))(2), Ag(2)-H(2), and Ag(2)-C(6)H(6) complexes are performed using a coupled-cluster approach that includes single, double, and perturbative triple excitations (CCSD(T)), M?ller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory (MP2), and spin-component-scaled MP2 (SCS-MP2) methods. Using the atom pair approximation, the C(6) coefficients for silver-silver, silver-hydrogen, and silver-carbon atom systems are obtained after subtracting the energies of quadrupole-quadrupole interactions from the total electronic energy.     

Efficient calculation of van der Waals dispersion coefficients with time-dependent density functional theory in real time: application to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The van der Waals dispersion coefficients of a set of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ranging in size from the single-cycle benzene to circumovalene (C(66)H(20)), are calculated with a real-time propagation approach to time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). In the nonretarded regime, the Casimir-Polder integral is employed to obtain C(6), once the dynamic polarizabilities have been computed at imaginary frequencies with TDDFT. On the other hand, the numerical coefficient that characterizes the fully retarded regime is obtained from the static polarizabilities. This ab initio strategy has favorable scaling with the size of the system--as demonstrated by the size of the reported molecules--and can be easily extended to obtain higher order van der Waals coefficients.     

Rb and Cs oligomers in different spin configurations on helium nanodroplets

The study of small clusters is intended to fill the knowledge gap between single atoms and bulk material. He nanodroplets are an ideal matrix for preparing and investigating clusters in a superfluid environment. Alkali-metal atoms are only bound very weakly to their surface by van der Waals forces. Due to the formation process, high-spin states of alkali-metal clusters on He nanodroplets are favorably observed, which is in contrast to the abundance in other preparation processes. Until now, the prevailing opinion was that stable clusters of the heavy alkali-metal atoms, rubidium (Rb) and cesium (Cs) on He nanodroplets, are limited to 5 and 3 atoms, respectively (Schulz et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 2004, 92, 13401). Here, we present stable complexes of Rb(n)? and Cs(n)? consisting of up to n = 30 atoms, with the detection of large alkali-metal clusters being strongly enhanced by one-photon ionization. Our results also suggest that we monitored both high-spin and low-spin state clusters created on nanodroplets. The van der Waals bound high-spin alkali-metal clusters should show strong magnetic behavior, while low-spin states are predicted to exhibit metallic characteristics. Alkali-metal clusters prepared in these two configurations appear to be ideal candidates for investigating nanosized particles with ferromagnetic or metallic properties.     

A post-Hartree-Fock model of intermolecular interactions: inclusion of higher-order corrections

We have previously demonstrated that the dipole moment of the exchange hole can be used to derive intermolecular C(6) dispersion coefficients [J. Chem. Phys. 122, 154104 (2005)]. This was subsequently the basis for a novel post-Hartree-Fock model of intermolecular interactions [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 024101 (2005)]. In the present work, the model is extended to include higher-order dispersion coefficients C(8) and C(10). The extended model performs very well for prediction of intermonomer separations and binding energies of 45 van der Waals complexes. In particular, it performs twice as well as basis-set extrapolated MP2 theory for dispersion-bound complexes, with minimal computational cost.     

Van der Waals surface graphs and molecular shape

A van der Waals surface graph is the graph defined on a van der Waals surface by the intersections of the atomic van der Waals spheres. A van der Waals shape graph has a vertex for each atom with a visible face on the van der Waals surface, and edges between vertices representing atoms with adjacent faces on the van der Waals surface. These are discrete invariants of three‐dimensional molecular shape. Some basic properties of van der Waals surface graphs are studied, including their relationship with the Voronoi diagram of the atom centres, and a class of molecular embeddings is identified for which the dual of the van der Waals surface graph coincides with the van der Waals shape graph. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Electronic structure and chemical bond in naphthalene and anthracene

We investigated the electronic structure of crystalline naphthalene and anthracene within the framework of density functional theory including van der Waals interactions (DFT-D). It is established that for better agreement with experimental values it is necessary to use the increased values of the van der Waals radii, which is caused by an overestimated value of the van der Waals interactions in crystalline linear oligoacenes. Utilization of the DFT-D leads to a correct account of the dispersion forces, which results in a high precision of the computed lattice parameters and cohesive energy. Based on the relaxed crystal structures, we have computed the total and deformation electron density and determined the mechanism of chemical bonds formation in crystals of naphthalene and anthracene. It has been established that the chemical bond in molecular crystals is formed under the influence of not only intramolecular but also intermolecular interactions. On the basis of the Mulliken population analysis it was revealed that two C(3) atoms in naphthalene (or C(3) and C(4) in anthracene) have a positive charge and the population of the rest of the carbon atoms increased, as compared with isolated molecule.     

An ab initio investigation of the O(3P)-H2(1sigma(g)+) van der Waals well

We report an ab initio study of the van der Waals region of the O(3P)-H2 potential energy surface based on RCCSD(T) calculations with an aug-cc-pVQZ basis supplemented by bond functions. In addition, an open-shell implementation of symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) is used to corroborate the RCCSD(T) calculations and to investigate the relative magnitudes of the various contributions to the van der Waals interaction. We also investigate the effect of the spin-orbit coupling on the position and depth of the van der Waals well. We predict the van der Waals minimum to occur in perpendicular geometry, and located at a closer distance than a secondary well in colinear geometry. The potentials obtained in the present study confirm the previous calculations of Alexander [M. H. Alexander, J. Chem. Phys., 1998, 108, 4467], but disagree with the earlier work of Harding and co-workers [Z. Li, V. A. Apkarian and L. B. Harding, J. Chem. Phys., 1997, 106, 942] as well as with recently refitted surfaces of Brand?o and coworkers [J. Brand?o, C. Mogo and B. C. Silva, J. Chem. Phys., 2004, 121, 8861]. Inclusion of spin-orbit coupling reduces the depth of the van der Waals minimum without causing a change in its position.     

Electric dipole polarizabilities and C6 dipole-dipole dispersion coefficients for sodium clusters and C60

The frequency-dependent polarizabilities of closed-shell sodium clusters containing up to 20 atoms have been calculated using the linear complex polarization propagator approach in conjunction with Hartree-Fock and Kohn-Sham density functional theories. In combination with polarizabilities for C(60) from a previous work [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 124312 (2005)], the C(6) dipole-dipole dispersion coefficients for the metal-cluster-to-cluster and cluster-to-buckminster-fullerene interactions are obtained via the Casimir-Polder relation [Phys. Rev. 73, 360 (1948)]. The B3PW91 results for the polarizability of the sodium dimer and tetramer are benchmarked against coupled cluster calculations. The error bars of the reported theoretical results for the C(6) coefficients are estimated to be 5%, and the results are well within the error bars of the experiment.     

Gamma-cyclodextrin forms a highly compressible complex with 1-adamantanecarboxylic acid

We report temperature-dependent ultrasonic velocimetric and densimetric data on changes in volume, expansibility, and adiabatic compressibility associated with the binding of 1-adamantanecarboxylic acid (AD) to gamma-cyclodextrin (gamma-CD). We compare these results with our previous data on the binding of AD to beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) [Taulier, N.; Chalikian, T.V.J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 12222-12224]. The comparison reveals that, in contrast to the tight AD-beta-CD complex with little void space left inside the cavity, AD forms a loose complex with gamma-CD with approximately 30 A3 of void space between the guest molecule and the inner walls of the cavity. The presence of the void renders the AD-gamma-CD complex highly compressible; the intrinsic coefficient of compressibility of the AD-gamma-CD complex is 37x10(-6) bar(-1) at 18 degrees C and decreases to 23x10(-6) bar(-1) at 55 degrees C. Such large compressibility is suggestive of only weak contacts between the interacting AD and gamma-CD atomic groups in the cavity. Our results are consistent with the notion that the AD-gamma-CD complex is predominantly stabilized by the hydrophobic effect with only modest contribution from intermolecular van der Waals interactions. This notion is in contrast to the AD-beta-CD complex which is stabilized by strong host-guest van der Waals interactions in addition to the hydrophobic effect.     

Vibrational and thermodynamic properties of β-HMX: a first-principles investigation

Thermodynamic properties of β-HMX crystal are investigated using the quasi-harmonic approximation and density functional theory within the local density approximation (LDA), generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and GGA + empirical van der Waals (vdW) correction. It is found that GGA well describes the thermal expansion coefficient and heat capacity but fails to produce correct bulk modulus and equilibrium volume. The vdW correction improves the bulk modulus and volume, but worsens the thermal expansion coefficient and heat capacity. In contrast, LDA describes all thermodynamic properties with reasonable accuracy, and overall is a good exchange-correlation functional for β-HMX molecular crystal. The results also demonstrate significant contributions of phonons to the equation of state. The static calculation of equilibrium volume for β-HMX differs from the room-temperature value incorporating lattice vibrations by over 5%. Therefore, for molecular crystals, it is essential to include phonon contributions when calculated equation of state is compared with experimental data at ambient condition.     

Experimental measurement of the van der Waals binding energy of X-O2 clusters (X=Xe, CH3I, C3H6, C6H12)

Van der Waals binding energies for the X-O(2) complexes (X=Xe, CH(3)I, C(3)H(6), C(6)H(12)) are determined by analysis of experimental velocity map imaging data for O((3)P(2)) atoms arising from UV-photodissociation of the complex [A. V. Baklanov et al., J. Chem. Phys. 126, 124316 (2007)]. Several dissociation pathways have been observed, we focus on the channel corresponding to prompt dissociation of X-O(2) into X+2O((3)P) fragments, which is present for complexes of O(2) with all partners X. Our method is based on analysis of the kinetic energy of all three photofragments, where the O atom kinetic energy was directly measured in the experiment and the kinetic energy of the X partner was calculated using momentum conservation, along with the measured angular anisotropy for O atom recoil. We exploit the fact that the clusters are all T-shaped or nearly T-shaped, which we also confirm by ab initio calculations, along with knowledge of the transition dipole governing radiative absorption by the complex. The effect of partitioning the kinetic energy between translation along the X-O(2) and O-O coordinates on the angular anisotropy of the O atom recoil direction is discussed. Van der Waals binding energies of 110±20 cm(-1), 280±20 cm(-1), 135±30 cm(-1), and 585±20 cm(-1) are determined for Xe-O(2), CH(3)I-O(2), C(3)H(6)-O(2), and C(6)H(12)-O(2) clusters, respectively.     

Electronic spectra of jet-cooled calix[4]arene and its van der Waals clusters: encapsulation of a neutral atom in a molecular bowl

The encapsulation of neutral guest has been studied for calix[4]arene (C4A) by forming van der Waals clusters with Ar and Ne in supersonic jets. The electronic transitions of these clusters suggest that the first Ar (Ne) is encapsulated inside the C4A cavity, while the next atoms are bound outside.     

A combined experimental and computational investigation of the microscopic external heavy atom effect in van der Waals clusters

We present a combined experimental and computational study of the external heavy atom effect in van der Waals clusters of para-difluorobenzene (pDFB) with rare-gas atoms. Experimentally, clustering with rare-gas atoms is observed to shorten significantly the S1 fluorescence lifetime compared with that of the pDFB monomer, an effect we interpret in terms of an enhancement of the S1-T1 intersystem crossing rate. In order to test the validity of this widely held assumption, we have calculated the S1-T1 spin-orbit coupling matrix elements in the X-pDFB complexes (X=Ne, Ar, Kr) using a multiconfigurational linear response approach.