Elastic and charge transfer processes in H+ + CO collisions

Proton and hydrogen atom time-of-flight spectra in collision energy range of E(trans) = 9.5-30 eV show that the endoergic charge transfer process in the H+ + CO system is almost an order of magnitude less probable than the elastic scattering [G. Niedner-Schatteburg and J. P. Toennies, Adv. Chem. Phys. LXXXII, 553 (1992)]. Ab initio computations at the multireference configuration interaction level have been performed to obtain the ground- and several low-lying excited electronic state potential energy curves in three different molecular orientations namely, H+ approaching the O-end and the C-end (collinear), and H+ approaching the CO molecule in perpendicular configuration with fixed CO internuclear distance. Nonadiabatic coupling terms between the ground electronic state (H+ + CO) and the three low-lying excited electronic states (H + CO+) have been computed and the corresponding diabatic potentials have been obtained. A time-dependent wavepacket dynamics study is modeled first involving only the ground and the first excited states and then involving the ground and the three lowest excited states at the collision energy of 9.5 eV. The overall charge transfer probability have been found to be approximately 20%-30% which is in qualitative agreement with the experimental findings.     

Elastic/inelastic and charge transfer collisions of H++H2 at collision energies of 4.67, 6, 7.3, and 10 eV

Quantum mechanical studies of vibrational and rotational state-resolved differential cross sections, integral cross sections, and transition probabilities for both the elastic/inelastic and charge transfer processes have been carried out at collision energies of 4.67, 6, 7.3, and 10 eV using the vibrational close-coupling rotational infinite-order sudden approach. The dynamics has been performed employing our newly obtained quasidiabatic potential energy surfaces which were generated using ab initio procedures and Dunning's correlation-consistent-polarized quadrupole zeta basis set. The present theoretical results for elastic/inelastic processes provide an overall excellent agreement with the available experimental data and they are also found to be almost similar to that obtained in earlier theoretical results using the ground electronic potential energy surface, lending credence to the accuracy and reliability of the quasidiabatic potential energy surfaces. The results for the complementary charge transfer processes are also presented at these energies.     

Global optimization of nonlinear least-squares problems by branch-and-bound and optimality constraints

We study a simple, yet unconventional approach to the global optimization of unconstrained nonlinear least-squares problems. Non-convexity of the sum of least-squares objective in parameter estimation problems may often lead to the presence of multiple local minima. Here, we focus on the spatial branch-and-bound algorithm for global optimization and experiment with one of its implementations, BARON (Sahinidis in J. Glob. Optim. 8(2):201–205, 1996), to solve parameter estimation problems. Through the explicit use of first-order optimality conditions, we are able to significantly expedite convergence to global optimality by strengthening the relaxation of the lower-bounding problem that forms a crucial part of the spatial branch-and-bound technique. We analyze the results obtained from 69 test cases taken from the statistics literature and discuss the successes and limitations of the proposed idea. In addition, we discuss software implementation for the automation of our strategy.     

Quantum dynamics of inelastic excitations and charge transfer processes in the H+ +NO collisions

State-resolved differential cross section, integral cross section, average vibrational energy transfer, and the relative transition probability are computed for the H(+)+NO system using our newly obtained ab initio potential energy surfaces (PES) at the multireference configuration interaction level of accuracy employing the correlation consistent polarized valence triple zeta basis set. The quantum dynamics is treated within the vibrational close-coupling rotational infinite-order sudden approximation using the coupled ground state and first excited state ab initio quasidiabatic PES. The computed collision attributes for the inelastic vibrational excitation are compared with the state-to-state scattering data available at E(c.m.)=9.5 eV and E(c.m.)=29.03 eV and are found to be in overall good agreement with those of the experiments. The results for the vibrational charge transfer processes at these collision energies are also presented.     

Non-adiabatic collisions in H+ + O2 system: An ab initio study

An ab initio study on the low-lying potential energy surfaces of H⁺ + O₂ system for different orientations (γ) of H⁺ have been undertaken employing the multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) method and Dunning’s cc-pVTZ basis set to examine their role in influencing the collision dynamics. Nonadiabatic interactions have been analysed for the 2 × 2 case in two dimensions for γ = 0°, 45° and 90°, and the corresponding diabatic potential energy surfaces have been obtained using the diabatic wavefunctions and their CI coefficients. The characteristics of the collision dynamics have been analysed in terms of vibrational coupling matrix elements for both inelastic and charge transfer processes in the restricted geometries. The strengths of coupling matrix elements reflect the vibrational excitation patterns observed in the state-to-state beam experiments.     

Vibrational inelastic and charge transfer processes in H(+)+H2 system: an ab initio study

State-resolved differential cross sections, total and integral cross sections, average vibrational energy transfer, and the relative probabilities are computed for the H(+)+H2 system using the newly obtained ab initio potential energy surfaces at the full CI/cc-pVQZ level of accuracy which allow for both the direct vibrational inelastic and the charge transfer processes. The quantum dynamics is treated within the vibrational close-coupling infinite-order-sudden approximation approach using the two ab initio quasidiabatic potential energy surfaces. The computed collision attributes for both the processes are compared with the available state-to-state scattering experiments at E(c.m.)=20 eV. The results are in overall good agreement with most of the observed scattering features such as rainbow positions, integral cross sections, and relative vibrational energy transfers. A comparison with the earlier theoretical study carried out on the semiempirical surfaces (diatomics in molecules) is also made to illustrate the reliability of the potential energy surfaces used in the present work.     

Ab initio potential energy surfaces and nonadiabatic collision dynamics in H(+)+O(2) system

The adiabatic potential energy surfaces for the lowest five electronic states of (3)A" symmetry for the H(+)+O(2) collision system have been obtained at the multireference configuration interaction level of accuracy using Dunning's correlation consistent polarized valence triple zeta basis set. The radial nonadiabatic coupling terms and the mixing angle between the lowest two electronic states (1 (3)A" and 2 (3)A"), which adiabatically correlate in the asymptotic limit to H((2)S)+O(2) (+)(X (2)Pi(g)) and H(+)+O(2)(X (3)Sigma(g)(-)), respectively, have been computed using ab initio procedures at the same level of accuracy to yield the corresponding quasidiabatic potential energy matrix. The computed strengths of the vibrational coupling matrix elements reflect the trend observed for inelastic vibrational excitations of O(2) in the experiments at collision energy of 9.5 eV. The quantum dynamics has been preformed on the newly obtained coupled quasidiabatic potential energy surfaces under the vibrational close-coupling rotational infinite-order sudden framework at the experimental collision energy of 9.5 eV. The present theoretical results for vibrational elastic/inelastic excitations of O(2) are in overall good agreement with the available experimental data obtained from the proton energy-loss spectra in molecular beam experiments [F. A. Gianturco et al., J. Phys. B 14, 667 (1981)]. The results for the complementary charge transfer processes are also presented at this collision energy.     

Ab initio potential energy surfaces and nonadiabatic interactions in the H+ +NO collision system

Ab initio calculations on the H(+)+NO system have been carried out in Jacobi coordinates at the multireference configuration interaction level employing Dunning's correlation-consistent polarized valence triple zeta basis set to analyze the role of low-lying electronic excited states in influencing the collision dynamics relevant to the experimental collision energy range of 9.5-30 eV. The lowest two adiabatic potential energy surfaces, asymptotically correlating to H(+)+NO(X (2)Pi) and H((2)S)+NO(+)(X (1)Sigma(+)), have been obtained. Using ab initio procedures, the (radial) nonadiabatic couplings and the mixing angle between the lowest two electronic states (1 (2)A' and 2 (2)A') have been obtained to yield the corresponding quasidiabatic potential energy matrix. The strengths of the computed vibrational coupling matrix elements reflect a similar trend, as has been observed experimentally in the magnitudes of the state-to-state transition probability for the inelastic vibrational excitations [J. Krutein and F. Linder, J. Chem. Phys. 71, 559 (1979); F. A. Gianturco et al., J. Phys. B 14, 667 (1981)].     

Generating molecular rovibrational coherence by two-photon femtosecond photoassociation of thermally hot atoms

The formation of diatomic molecules with rotational and vibrational coherence is demonstrated experimentally in free-to-bound two-photon femtosecond photoassociation of hot atoms. In a thermal gas at a temperature of 1000 K, pairs of magnesium atoms, colliding in their electronic ground state, are excited into coherent superpositions of bound rovibrational levels in an electronically excited state. The rovibrational coherence is probed by a time-delayed third photon, resulting in quantum beats in the UV fluorescence. A comprehensive theoretical model based on ab initio calculations rationalizes the generation of coherence by Franck-Condon filtering of collision energies and partial waves, quantifying it in terms of an increase in quantum purity of the thermal ensemble. Our results open the way to coherent control of a binary reaction.