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Strong light–matter coupling within an optical cavity leverages the collective interactions of molecules and confined electromagnetic fields, giving rise to the possibilities of modifying chemical reactivity and molecular properties. While collective optical responses, such as enhanced Rabi splitting, are often observed, the overall effect of the cavity on molecular systems remains ambiguous for a large number of molecules. In this paper, we investigate the non-adiabatic electron transfer process in electron donor–acceptor pairs influenced by collective excitation and local molecular dynamics. Using the timescale difference between reorganization and thermal fluctuations, we derive analytical formulas for the electron transfer rate constant and the polariton relaxation rate. These formulas apply to any number of molecules (N) and account for the collective effect as induced by cavity photon coupling. Our findings reveal a non-monotonic dependence of the rate constant on N, which can be understood by the interplay between electron transfer and polariton relaxation. As a result, the cavity-induced quantum yield increases linearly with N for small N (as predicted by a simple Dicke model) but shows a turnover and suppression for large N. We also interrelate the thermal bath frequency and the number of molecules, suggesting the optimal number for maximizing enhancement. The analysis provides an analytical insight for understanding the collective excitation of light and electron transfer, helping to predict the optimal condition for effective cavity-controlled chemical reactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, benchmark results are presented on the calculation of vertical electronic excitation energies using a long-range second-order polarization propagator approximation (SOPPA) description with a short-range density functional theory description based on the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) functional. The excitation energies are investigated for 132 singlet states and 71 triplet states across 28 medium-sized organic molecules. The results show that overall SOPPA-srPBE always performs better than PBE and that SOPPA-srPBE performs better than SOPPA for singlet states, but slightly worse than SOPPA for triplet states when CC3 results are the reference values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the energies and charge and spin distributions of the low-lying excited states in singlet and triplet N2V defects in diamond from direct Δ-SCF calculations based on Gaussian orbitals within the B3LYP, PBE0, and HSE06 functionals. They assign the observed absorption at 2.463 eV, first reported by Davies et al. [Proc. R. Soc. London 351, 245 (1976)], to the excitation of a N(sp3) lone-pair electron in the singlet and triplet states, respectively, with estimates of ∼1.1 eV for that of the unpaired electrons, C(sp3). In both cases, the excited states are predicted to be highly local and strongly excitonic with 81% of the C(sp3) and 87% of the N(sp3) excited charges localized at the three C atoms nearest neighbor (nn) to the excitation sites. Also reported are the higher excited gap states of both the N lone pair and C unpaired electron. Calculated excitation energies of the bonding sp3 hybrids of the C atoms nn to the four inner atoms are close to that of the bulk, which indicates that the N2V defect is largely a local defect. The present results are in broad agreement with those reported by Udvarhelyi et al. [Phys. Rev. B 96, 155211 (2017)] from plane wave HSE06 calculations, notably for the N lone pair excitation energy, for which both predict an energy of ∼2.7 eV but with a difference of ∼0.5 eV for the excitation of the unpaired electron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remarkable success of x-ray free-electron lasers and their ability to image biological macromolecules while outrunning secondary radiation damage due to photoelectrons, by using femtosecond pulses, raise the question of whether this can be done using pulsed high-energy electron beams. In this paper, we use excited state molecular dynamics simulations, with tabulated potentials, for rare gas solids to investigate the effect of radiation damage due to inelastic scattering (by plasmons, excitons, and heat) on the pair distribution function. We use electron energy loss spectra to characterize the electronic excitations responsible for radiation damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excited state dynamics of polycrystalline tetracene films are studied using femtosecond transient absorption in combination with picosecond fluorescence, continuing work reported in an earlier paper [J. J. Burdett, A. M. Muller, D. Gosztola, and C. J. Bardeen, J. Chem. Phys. 133, 144506 (2010)]. A study of the intensity dependence of the singlet state decay is conducted to understand the origins of the discrepancy between the broadband transient absorption and fluorescence experiments seen previously. High-sensitivity single channel transient absorption experiments allow us to compare the transient absorption dynamics to the fluorescence dynamics measured at identical laser fluences. At high excitation densities, an exciton-exciton annihilation rate constant of ∼1 × 10-8 cm3 s-1 leads to rapid singlet decays, but at excitation densities of 2 × 1017 cm-3 or less the kinetics of the transient absorption match those of the fluorescence. At these lower excitation densities, both measurements confirm that the initially excited singlet state relaxes with a decay time of 80 ± 3 ps, not 9.2 ps as claimed in the earlier paper. In order to investigate the origin of the singlet decay, the wavelength-resolved fluorescence dynamics were measured at 298 K, 77 K, and 4 K. A high-energy J-type emitting species undergo a rapid (∼100 ps) decay at all temperatures, while at 77 K and 4 K additional species with H-type and J-type emission lineshapes have much longer lifetimes. A global analysis of the wavelength-dependent decays shows that the initial ∼100 ps decay occurs to a dark state and not via energy transfer to lower energy bright states. Varying the excitation wavelength from 400 nm to 510 nm had no effect on the fast decay, suggesting that there is no energy threshold for the initial singlet relaxation. The presence of different emitting species at different temperatures means that earlier interpretations of the fluorescence behavior in terms of one singlet state that is short-lived due to singlet fission at high temperatures but long-lived at lower temperatures are probably too simplistic. The presence of a rapid singlet decay at all temperatures indicates that the initially created J-type singlet exciton decays to an intermediate that only produces free triplets (and delayed fluorescence) at high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preceding paper [J. D. Biggs and J. A. Cina, J. Chem. Phys. 131, 224101 (2009)] (referred to here as Paper 1), describes a strategy for externally influencing the course of short-time electronic excitation transfer (EET) in molecular dimers and observing the process by nonlinear wave-packet interferometry (nl-WPI). External influence can, for example, be exerted by inducing coherent intramolecular vibration in one of the chromophores prior to short-pulse electronic excitation of the other. Within a sample of isotropically oriented dimers having a specified internal geometry, a vibrational mode internal to the acceptor chromophore can be preferentially driven by electronically nonresonant impulsive stimulated Raman (or resonant infrared) excitation with a short polarized “control” pulse. A subsequent electronically resonant polarized pump then preferentially excites the donor, and EET ensues. Paper 1 investigates control-pulse-influenced nl-WPI as a tool for the spectroscopic evaluation of the effect of coherent molecular vibration on excitation transfer, presenting general expressions for the nl-WPI difference signal from a dimer following the action of a control pulse of arbitrary polarization and shape. Electronic excitation is to be effected and its interchromophore transfer monitored by resonant pump and probe “pulses,” respectively, each consisting of an optical-phase-controlled ultrashort pulse-pair having arbitrary polarization, duration, center frequency, and other characteristics. Here we test both the control strategy and its spectroscopic investigation—with some sacrifice of amplitude-level detail—by calculating the pump-probe difference signal. That signal is the limiting case of the control-influenced nl-WPI signal in which the two pulses in the pump pulse-pair coincide, as do the two pulses in the probe pulse-pair. We present calculated pump-probe difference signals for (1) a model excitation-transfer complex in which two equal-energy monomers each support one moderately Franck–Condon active intramolecular vibration; (2) a simplified model of the covalent dimer dithia-anthracenophane, representing its EET dynamics following selective impulsive excitation of the weakly Franck–Condon active ν12 anthracene vibration at 385 cm-1; and (3) a model complex featuring moderate electronic-vibrational coupling in which the site energy of the acceptor chromophore is lower than that of the donor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classical theory of collision induced emission (CIE) from pairs of dissimilar rare gas atoms was developed in Paper I [D. Reguera and G. Birnbaum, J. Chem. Phys. 125, 184304 (2006)] from a knowledge of the straight line collision trajectory and the assumption that the magnitude of the dipole could be represented by an exponential function of the inter-nuclear distance. This theory is extended here to deal with other functional forms of the induced dipole as revealed by ab initio calculations. Accurate analytical expression for the CIE can be obtained by least square fitting of the ab initio values of the dipole as a function of inter-atomic separation using a sum of exponentials and then proceeding as in Paper I. However, we also show how the multi-exponential fit can be replaced by a simpler fit using only two analytic functions. Our analysis is applied to the polar molecules HF and HBr. Unlike the rare gas atoms considered previously, these atomic pairs form stable bound diatomic molecules. We show that, interestingly, the spectra of these reactive molecules are characterized by the presence of multiple peaks. We also discuss the CIE arising from half collisions in excited electronic states, which in principle could be probed in photo-dissociation experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss the explicit role of resonant nuclear/vibrational modes in mediating energy transport among chlorophylls in the Light-harvesting Complex II (LHCII), the major light-harvesting complex in green plants. The vibrational modes are considered to be resonant/quasi-resonant with the energy gap between electronic excitons. These resonant vibrations, along with the remaining nuclear degrees of freedom, constitute the environment/bath to the electronically excited system and contribute to two major phenomena: (a) decoherence and (b) incoherent phonon-mediated population relaxation. In this work, we explore the subtle interplay among the electronic excitation, the resonant vibrations, and the environment in dictating environment assisted quantum transport in light-harvesting complexes. We conclusively show that resonant vibrations are capable of boosting the incoherent population relaxation pathways and cause rapid decoherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We replied to the comment by Banerjee and Harbola on our previous paper [J. Chem. Phys. 111, 2878 (1999)]. As their comment, the basic direction of our previous paper is similar to theirs [Phys. Lett. A 236, 525 (1997) and Eur. Phys. J. D 5, 201 (1999)]. However, there exist the significant differences between them concerning (1) the description of the exchange-correlation quasienergy functional, (2) the universality of the expression of hyperpolarizabilities, (3) the derivation of the expression for the excitation energies and transition moments, and (4) the orbital quasienergy matrix in the coupled-perturbed Kohn-Sham equation. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report newly derived integral cross sections (ICSs) for electron impact vibrational excitation of tetrahydrofuran (THF) at intermediate impact energies. These cross sections extend the currently available data from 20 to 50 eV. Further, they indicate that the previously recommended THF ICS set [Garland et al., Phys. Rev. A 88, 062712 (2013)] underestimated the strength of the electron-impact vibrational excitation processes. Thus, that recommended vibrational cross section set is revised to address those deficiencies. Electron swarm transport properties were calculated with the amended vibrational cross section set, to quantify the role of electron-driven vibrational excitation in describing the macroscopic swarm phenomena. Here, significant differences of up to 17% in the transport coefficients were observed between the calculations performed using the original and revised cross section sets for vibrational excitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excited states of a diverse set of molecules are examined using a collection of newly implemented analysis methods. These examples expose the particular power of three of these tools: (i) natural difference orbitals (the eigenvectors of the difference density matrix) for the description of orbital relaxation effects, (ii) analysis of the one-electron transition density matrix in terms of an electronhole picture to identify charge resonance and excitonic correlation effects, and (iii) state-averaged natural transition orbitals for a compact simultaneous representation of several states. Furthermore, the utility of a wide array of additional analysis methods is highlighted. Five molecules with diverse excited state characteristics are chosen for these tasks: pyridine as a prototypical small heteroaromatic molecule, a model system of six neon atoms to study charge resonance effects, hexatriene in its neutral and radical cation forms to exemplify the cases of double excitations and spin-polarization, respectively, and a model iridium complex as a representative metal organic compound. Using these examples a number of phenomena, which are at first sight unexpected, are highlighted and their physical significance is discussed. Moreover, the generality of the conclusions of this paper is verified by a comparison of single- and multireference ab initio methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, thermal conductivity coefficient of high-temperature molecular and atomic gases with excited electronic states is studied using both the kinetic theory algorithm developed by authors earlier and the well known simple expression for the thermal conductivity coefficient proposed by Eucken and generalized by Hirschfelder. The influence of large collision diameters of excited states on the thermal conductivity is discussed. The limit of validity of the Eucken correction is evaluated on the basis of the kinetic theory calculations; an improved model suitable for air species under high-temperature conditions is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper begins with describing the excitation mechanisms in surface photochemistry and nuclear dynamics of adsorbate induced by electronic excitation. An illustrative example is Cs adsorbate on a Cu(111) surface. This adsorption system shows drastic changes in the electronic structure with coverage; this allows us to examine different types of electronic excitations that stimulate nuclear motions of Cs. Remarks are made on challenges in photoinduced processes at well-defined surfaces: direct observations of adsorbate-substrate vibrational modes and photoinduced reactions between adsorbates. Then, the paper addresses some issues in more complex systems: metal-liquid interfaces and powdered photocatalysts of metal oxides. Photochemistry and photoinduced nuclear dynamics at metal-liquid interfaces have not been well explored. Studies on this subject may make it possible to bridge the gap between surface photochemistry and electrochemistry. Photocatalysis with powdered catalysts has been extensively studied and is still an active area, but our understanding of the mechanism of photocatalysis is far from satisfactory. Although complicated, the highly integrated systems provide an opportunity to extend our knowledge of surface photochemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the dynamics of quantum excitations inside macromolecules which can undergo conformational transitions. In the first part of the paper, we use the path integral formalism to rigorously derive a set of coupled equations of motion which simultaneously describe the molecular and quantum transport dynamics, and obey the fluctuation/dissipation relationship. We also introduce an algorithm which yields the most probable molecular and quantum transport pathways in rare, thermally activated reactions. In the second part of the paper, we apply this formalism to simulate the propagation of a quantum charge during the collapse of a polymer from an initial stretched conformation to a final globular state. We find that the charge dynamics is quenched when the chain reaches a molten globule state. Using random matrix theory we show that this transition is due to an increase of quantum localization driven by dynamical disorder. We argue that collapsing conducting polymers may represent a physical realization of quantum small-world networks with dynamical rewiring probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas-phase atomic anions lack bound electronic excited states, yet in solution many of these anions exhibit intense absorption bands due to the presence of excited states, referred to as charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) states that are bound only by the presence of the solvent. CTTS spectra thus serve as delicate probes of solute-solvent interactions, but the fact that they are created by the interactions of a solute with many solvent molecules makes them a challenge to describe theoretically. In this paper, we use mixed quantum/classical molecular dynamics with the two-electron Fourier-grid (2EFG) electronic structure method presented in the previous paper [W. J. Glover, R. E. Larsen, and B. J. Schwartz, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 144101 (2010)] to simulate the CTTS states of a sodium anion in liquid tetrahydrofuran, Na-/THF. Since our 2EFG method is based on configuration interaction with single and double excitations in a grid basis, it allows for an exact treatment of the two valence electrons of the sodium anion. To simulate Na-/THF, we first develop a new electron–THF pseudopotential, and we verify the accuracy of this potential by reproducing the experimental absorption spectrum of an excess electron in liquid THF with near quantitative accuracy. We also are able to reproduce the CTTS spectrum of Na-/THF and find that the CTTS states of Na- exhibit a Rydberg-like progression due to the pre-existing long-range solvent polarization around the anion. We also find that the CTTS states are highly mixed with the disjoint electronic states supported by naturally occurring solvent cavities that exist in liquid THF. This mixing explains why the solvated electrons that are ejected following CTTS excitation appear with their equilibrium absorption spectrum. The mixing of the CTTS and solvent-cavity states also explains why the recombination of the electron and its geminate Na0 partner occurs on slower time scales when photoexciting in the blue compared to in the red of the CTTS band: blue excitation accesses CTTS states whose charge densities lies further from the position of the anion, whereas red excitation accesses CTTS states that lie primarily within the anion’s first solvation shell. Finally, we see that the radial character of the CTTS states near the Na+ core matches that of Na0, explaining why the spectrum of this species appears instantly after photoexciting Na-. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work has suggested that correlations in the environments of chromophores can lead to a change in the dynamics of excitation transfer in both the coherent and incoherent limits. An example of this effect that is relevant to many single molecule experiments occurs in the standard Förster model for resonant energy transfer (RET). The standard formula for the FRET rate breaks down when the electronic excitations on weakly interacting donor and acceptor couple to the same vibrational modes. The transfer rate can then no longer be factored into donor emission and acceptor absorption lineshapes, but must be recast in terms of a renormalized phonon reorganization energy accounting for the magnitude and sign of the excitation-vibration couplings. In this paper, we derive theoretically how the FRET rate depends on the shared mode structure and coupling, examine the simplified case of Gaussian lineshapes and then provide a quantitative calculation for a system of current interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Equation-of-Motion coupled cluster method restricted to single and double excitations (EOM-CCSD) and singlet excited states is formulated in a basis of nonorthogonal local orbitals. In the calculation of excited states only electron promotions from localized molecular orbitals into subspaces (excitation domains) of the local basis are allowed, which strongly reduces the number of EOM-CCSD amplitudes to be optimized. Furthermore, double excitations are neglected unless the excitation domains of the corresponding localized occupied orbitals are close to each other. Unlike in the local methods for the ground state, the excitation domains cannot be simply restricted to the atomic orbitals that are spatially close to the localized occupied orbitals. In the present paper the choice of the excitation domains is based on the analysis of wave functions computed by more approximate (and cheaper) methods like, e.g., configuration-interaction singles. The effect of various local approximations is investigated in detail, and it is found that a balanced description of the local configuration spaces describing the ground and excited states is essential to obtain accurate results. Using a single set of parameters for a given basis set, test calculations with the local EOM-CCSD method were performed for 14 molecules and 49 electronically excited states. The excitation energies computed by the local EOM-CCSD method reproduce the conventional EOM-CCSD excitation energies with an average error of 0.06 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a new method for the computation of the transition moments between the excited electronic states based on the expectation value formalism of the coupled cluster theory [B. Jeziorski and R. Moszynski, Int. J. Quantum Chem. 48, 161 (1993)]. The working expressions of the new method solely employ the coupled cluster operator T and an auxiliary operator S that is expressed as a finite commutator expansion in terms of T and T†. In the approximation adopted in the present paper, the cluster expansion is limited to single, double, and linear triple excitations. The computed dipole transition probabilities for the singlet-singlet and triplet-triplet transitions in alkali earth atoms agree well with the available theoretical and experimental data. In contrast to the existing coupled cluster response theory, the matrix elements obtained by using our approach satisfy the Hermitian symmetry even if the excitations in the cluster operator are truncated, but the operator S is exact. The Hermitian symmetry is slightly broken if the commutator series for the operator S are truncated. As a part of the numerical evidence for the new method, we report calculations of the transition moments between the excited triplet states which have not yet been reported in the literature within the coupled cluster theory. Slater-type basis sets constructed according to the correlation-consistency principle are used in our calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoelectron Photoion Coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy holds the promise of a universal, isomer-selective, and sensitive analytical technique for time-resolved quantitative analysis of bimolecular chemical reactions. Unfortunately, its low dynamic range of ~103 has largely precluded its use for this purpose, where a dynamic range of at least 105 is generally required. This limitation is due to the false coincidence background common to all coincidence experiments, especially at high count rates. Electron/ion pairs emanating from separate ionization events but arriving within the ion time of flight (TOF) range of interest constitute the false coincidence background. Although this background has uniform intensity at every m/z value, the Poisson scatter in the false coincidence background obscures small signals. In this paper, temporal ion deflection coupled with a position-sensitive ion detector enables suppression of the false coincidence background, increasing the dynamic range in the PEPICO TOF mass spectrum by 2-3 orders of magnitude. The ions experience a time-dependent electric deflection field at a well-defined fraction of their time of flight. This deflection defines an m/zand ionization-time dependent ion impact position for true coincidences, whereas false coincidences appear randomly outside this region and can be efficiently suppressed. When cold argon clusters are ionized, false coincidence suppression allows us to observe species up to Ar9+, whereas Ar9+ is the largest observable cluster under traditional operation. This advance provides mass-selected photoelectron spectra for fast, high sensitivity quantitative analysis of reacting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diatomic NiCu has been supersonically cooled in a molecular beam and investigated by resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy. A total of nine band systems connecting the ground 3d9Ni3d10Cuσ2, X 2Δ5/2 state to the 3d8Ni(3F)3d10Cuσ2σ*1 manifold of states have been found, and bands of eight of these systems have been rotationally resolved and analyzed. L- and S-uncoupling interactions have been found between two pairs of states, resulting in B[11.9]2.5∼C[11.9]1.5 and [10.4]2.5∼[10.4]1.5(?) heterogeneous perturbations. In the case of the B∼C interaction, the magnitude of the perturbation matrix element has been deduced. The detailed spectroscopic analysis of the 3d8Ni(3F)3d10Cuσ2σ*1 manifold of states presented in this paper allows the electronic structure of NiCu to be understood in depth and provides a database for comparison to the ligand-field plus spin–orbit calculation of the NiCu excited states presented in the following paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has demonstrated that optimal electromagnetic fields capable of producing selective vibrational excitation in molecules can be designed employing linear quadratic control methods using a cost functional that balances the energy distribution in the molecule, the fluence of the optical field, and a final cost to insure the desired excitation. Practical computations of molecular control theory for large molecules especially with anharmonic potentials become difficult to obtain due to the increased dimensionality and the accompanying uncertainty in the Hamiltonian. In this paper we reduce the complexity of the problem by treating a portion of the molecule including the target and optical dipoles in full detail, while the remainder of the molecule is modeled as an external disturbance of bounded energy. The optimal control field now minimizes the cost functional which is simultaneously maximized with respect to the energy constrained external disturbance to assure robustness. This optimal design process is commensurate with taking the most pessimistic view of the disturbance. This conservative view was born out in the numerical calculations such that practical laboratory studies should reach results much improved over the worst case design. As an illustration we investigate disturbances of varying energy content for a truncated 20 atom molecular chain where the uncontrolled remainder of the chain is the source of the system disturbance. The sensitivity of the system with respect to the disturbance was found to be strongly dependent on the distance of the disturbance to the target bond and the dipole arrangement. In addition, in the range of physically reasonable disturbance energy the optimal field could be accurately predicted from an asymptotic expansion involving only the reference undisturbed case. Although the present paper takes advantage of linear system techniques, the same robust optimal control procedure can be generalized to nonlinear... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report on the development of a parallel implementation of the coupled-cluster (CC) Green function formulation (GFCC) employing single and double excitations in the cluster operator (GFCCSD). A key aspect of this work is the determination of the frequency dependent self-energy, Σ(ω). The detailed description of the underlying algorithm is provided, including approximations used that preserve the pole structure of the full GFCCSD method, thereby reducing the computational costs while maintaining an accurate character of methodology. Furthermore, for systems with strong local correlation, our formulation reveals a diagonally dominate block structure where as the non-local correlation increases, the block size increases proportionally. To demonstrate the accuracy of our approach, several examples including calculations of ionization potentials for benchmark systems are presented and compared against experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,2-diphenoxyethane (DPOE) is a flexible bichromophore whose excited states come in close-lying pairs whose splitting and vibronic coupling can be modulated by solvent. Building on the ground state infrared spectroscopy of DPOE-(H2O)n clusters with n = 2-4 from the adjoining paper [Walsh et al., J. Chem. Phys. 142, 154303 (2015)], the present work focuses on the vibronic and excited state infrared spectroscopies of the clusters. The type and degree of asymmetry of the water cluster binding to DPOE is reflected in the variation in the magnitude of the S1/S2 splitting with cluster size. Excited state resonant ion-dip infrared spectroscopy was performed at the electronic origins of the first two excited states in order to explore how the water clusters' OH stretch spectra report on the nature of the two excited states, and the interaction of the S2 state with nearby S1 vibronic levels mediated by the water clusters. The data set, when taken as a whole, provides a state-to-state view of internal conversion and the role of solvent in mediating conversion of electronic excitation between two chromophores, providing a molecular-scale view of Kasha's rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tensor hypercontraction is a method that allows the representation of a high-rank tensor as a product of lower-rank tensors. In this paper, we show how tensor hypercontraction can be applied to both the electron repulsion integral tensor and the two-particle excitation amplitudes used in the parametric 2-electron reduced density matrix (p2RDM) algorithm. Because only O(r) auxiliary functions are needed in both of these approximations, our overall algorithm can be shown to scale as O(r4), where r is the number of single-particle basis functions. We apply our algorithm to several small molecules, hydrogen chains, and alkanes to demonstrate its low formal scaling and practical utility. Provided we use enough auxiliary functions, we obtain accuracy similar to that of the standard p2RDM algorithm, somewhere between that of CCSD and CCSD(T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent experimental discoveries about excitation energy transfer (EET) in light harvesting antenna (LHA) attract a lot of interest. As an open non-equilibrium quantum system, the EET demands more rigorous theoretical framework to understand the interaction between system and environment and therein the evolution of reduced density matrix. A phonon is often used to model the fluctuating environment and convolutes the reduced quantum system temporarily. In this paper, we propose a novel way to construct complex-valued Gaussian processes to describe thermal quantum phonon bath exactly by converting the convolution of influence functional into the time correlation of complex Gaussian random field. Based on the construction, we propose a rigorous and efficient computational method, the covariance decomposition and conditional propagation scheme, to simulate the temporarily entangled reduced system. The new method allows us to study the non-Markovian effect without perturbation under the influence of different spectral densities of the linear system-phonon coupling coefficients. Its application in the study of EET in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson model Hamiltonian under four different spectral densities is discussed. Since the scaling of our algorithm is linear due to its Monte Carlo nature, the future application of the method for large LHA systems is attractive. In addition, this method can be used to study the effect of correlated initial condition on the reduced dynamics in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimally tuned range separated hybrid functionals are a new class of implicitly defined functionals. Their important new aspect is that the range separation parameter in these functionals is determined individually for each system by iteratively tuning it until a fundamental, non-empirical condition is fulfilled. Such functionals have been demonstrated to be extremely successful in predicting electronic excitations. In this paper, we explore the use of the tuning approach for predicting ground state properties. This sheds light on one of its downsides - the violation of size consistency. By analyzing diatomic molecules, we reveal size consistency errors up to several electron volts and find that binding energies cannot be predicted reliably. Further consequences of the consistent ground-state use of the tuning approach are potential energy surfaces that are qualitatively in error and an incorrect prediction of spin states. We discuss these failures, their origins, and possibilities for overcoming them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of two-electron excitations is a fundamental but computationally expensive part of ab initio calculations of many-electron correlation. In this paper we develop a low-rank spectral expansion of two-electron excitations for accelerated electronic-structure calculations. The spectral expansion differs from previous approaches by relying upon both (i) a sum of three expansions to increase the rank reduction of the tensor and (ii) a factorization of the tensor into geminal (rank-two) tensors rather than orbital (rank-one) tensors. We combine three spectral expansions from the three distinct forms of the two-electron reduced density matrix (2-RDM), (i) the two-particle 2D, (ii) the two-hole 2Q, and the (iii) particle-hole 2G matrices, to produce a single spectral expansion with significantly accelerated convergence. While the resulting expansion is applicable to any quantum-chemistry calculation with two-particle excitation amplitudes, it is employed here in the parametric 2-RDM method [D. A. Mazziotti, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 253002 (2008)]. The low-rank parametric 2-RDM method scales quartically with the basis-set size, but like its full-rank version it can capture multi-reference correlation effects that are difficult to treat efficiently by traditional single-reference wavefunction methods. Applications are made to computing potential energy curves of HF and triplet OH+, equilibrium bond distances and frequencies, the HCN-HNC isomerization, and the energies of hydrocarbon chains. Computed 2-RDMs nearly satisfy necessary N-representability conditions. The low-rank spectral expansion has the potential to expand the applicability of the parametric 2-RDM method as well as other ab initio methods to large-scale molecular systems that are often only treatable by mean-field or density functional theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential energy curves (PECs) for the low-lying states of the lithium chloride molecule (LiCl) have been calculated using the internally contracted multireference single- and double-excitation configuration interaction (MRSDCI) method with the aug-cc-PVnZ (AVnZ) and aug-cc-PCVnZ (ACVnZ) basis sets, where n = T, Q, and 5. First, we calculate PECs for 7 spin-orbit (SO)-free Λ-S states, X1Σ+, A1Σ+, 3Σ+, 1Π, and 3Π, and then obtain PECs for 13 SO Ω states, X0+, A0+, B0+, 0-(I), 0-(II), 1(I), 1(II), 1(III), and 2, by diagonalizing the matrix of the electronic Hamiltonian plus the Breit-Pauli SO Hamiltonian. The MRSDCI calculations not including core orbital correlation through the single and double excitations are also performed with the AV5Z and ACV5Z basis sets. The Davidson corrections (Q0) are added to both the Λ-S and Ω state energies. Vibrational eigenstates for the obtained X1Σ+ and X0+ PECs are calculated by solving the time-independent Schrödinger equation with the grid method. Thus, the effects of basis set, core orbital correlation, and the Davidson correction on the X1Σ+ and X0+ PECs of LiCl are investigated by comparing the spectroscopic constants calculated from the PECs with one another and with experiment. It is confirmed that to accurately predict the spectroscopic constants we need to include core-electron correlation in the CI expansion and use the basis sets designed to describe core-valence correlation, i.e., ACVnZ. The SO PECs presented in this paper will be of help in the future study of diatomic alkali halide dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic excitation spectra of the radical anions of cyanoethylenes (trans-dicyanoethylene and tetracyanoethylene) and cyanobenzenes (1,2-dicyanobenzene: o-DCNB, 1,3-dicyanobenzene: m-DCNB, and 1,4-dicyanobenzene: p-DCNB) were studied by the symmetry adapted cluster-configuration interaction (SAC-CI) method. Theoretical calculations predicted positive electron affinities for all the molecules in good agreement with the experimental observations. Electronic excitation spectra of open-shell radicals is a topic that has not been studied as much as such spectra of closed-shell molecules, but this can be easily addressed using SAC-CI theory. The present paper systematically describes the calculation procedures for radical anions by investigating several basis sets, including anion diffuse and Rydberg functions. The calculated excitation energies were in good agreement with the experimental UV/NIR (near infrared region) spectra, which had been observed by one of the present authors in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran matrix frozen to transparent glassy solids at 77 K. For p-DCNB, the SAC-CI theoretical spectrum agreed particularly well with the experimental spectrum. An extremely weak π*(SOMO) - π* excitation at 1.41 eV predicted in the present work, but had been overlooked in the previous experimental spectrum published in 1988, was confirmed to be real by a careful re-examination of the old spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently proposed universal state-selective (USS) corrections [K. Kowalski, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 194107 (2011)] to approximate multi-reference coupled-cluster (MRCC) energies can be commonly applied to any type of MRCC theory based on the Jeziorski-Monkhorst [B. Jeziorski and H. J. Monkhorst, Phys. Rev. A 24, 1668 (1981)] exponential ansatz. In this paper we report on the performance of a simple USS correction to the Brillouin-Wigner and Mukherjee's MRCC approaches employing single and double excitations (USS-BW-MRCCSD and USS-Mk-MRCCSD). It is shown that the USS-BW-MRCCSD correction, which employs the manifold of single and double excitations, can be related to a posteriori corrections utilized in routine BW-MRCCSD calculations. In several benchmark calculations we compare the USS-BW-MRCCSD and USS-Mk-MRCCSD results with the results obtained with the full configuration interaction method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional photon-echo experiments indicate that excitation energy transfer between chromophores near the reaction center of the photosynthetic purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides occurs coherently with decoherence times of hundreds of femtoseconds, comparable to the energy transfer time scale in these systems. The original explanation of this observation suggested that correlated fluctuations in chromophore excitation energies, driven by large scale protein motions could result in long lived coherent energy transfer dynamics. However, no significant site energy correlation has been found in recent molecular dynamics simulations of several model light harvesting systems. Instead, there is evidence of correlated fluctuations in site energy-electronic coupling and electronic coupling-electronic coupling. The roles of these different types of correlations in excitation energy transfer dynamics are not yet thoroughly understood, though the effects of site energy correlations have been well studied. In this paper, we introduce several general models that can realistically describe the effects of various types of correlated fluctuations in chromophore properties and systematically study the behavior of these models using general methods for treating dissipative quantum dynamics in complex multi-chromophore systems. The effects of correlation between site energy and inter-site electronic couplings are explored in a two state model of excitation energy transfer between the accessory bacteriochlorophyll and bacteriopheophytin in a reaction center system and we find that these types of correlated fluctuations can enhance or suppress coherence and transfer rate simultaneously. In contrast, models for correlated fluctuations in chromophore excitation energies show enhanced coherent dynamics but necessarily show decrease in excitation energy transfer rate accompanying such coherence enhancement. Finally, for a three state model of the Fenna-Matthews-Olsen light harvesting complex, we explore the influence of including correlations in inter-chromophore couplings between different chromophore dimers that share a common chromophore. We find that the relative sign of the different correlations can have profound influence on decoherence time and energy transfer rate and can provide sensitive control of relaxation in these complex quantum dynamical open systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods such as variational Monte Carlo and fixed node diffusion Monte Carlo depend heavily on the quality of the trial wave function. Although Slater-Jastrow wave functions are the most commonly used variational ansatz in electronic structure, more sophisticated wave functions are critical to ascertaining new physics. One such wave function is the multi-Slater-Jastrow wave function which consists of a Jastrow function multiplied by the sum of Slater determinants. In this paper we describe a method for working with these wave functions in QMC codes that is easy to implement, efficient both in computational speed as well as memory, and easily parallelized. The computational cost scales quadratically with particle number making this scaling no worse than the single determinant case and linear with the total number of excitations. Additionally, we implement this method and use it to compute the ground state energy of a water molecule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excitation transfers between linear AlNC and AlCN via the à 1Π (1 1A″, 2 1A′)-X 1Σ+ transition were studied by a wave packet propagation method as applied to a simple system for an isomerization reaction. The photoabsorption and fluorescence spectra calculated in this work are in good agreement with Einstein's A and B coefficients reported in our previous paper [I. Tokue and S. Nanbu, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 224301 (2006)]. In the 2 1A′-X 1Σ+ excitation of linear AlNC, both isomerization to linear AlCN and dissociation to Al + CN can occur; the probability of both decay channels strongly depends on the vibrational modes of the initial wave packet. The 1 1A″-X 1Σ+ excitation of linear AlNC results primarily in dissociation with isomerization being found to be a relatively minor phenomenon. For the linear AlCN excitation, vibrational levels above 1000 cm-1 occur for both isomerization and dissociation. The isomerization of AlNC ↔ AlCN was found to occur after the à 1Π-X 1Σ+ fluorescence of AlNC and AlCN, with even the initial wave packet being made with the vibrational ground level of the à 1Π state, whereas no dissociation was recognized for any of the cases calculated in this study using lower vibrational levels as initial wave packets. The procedure for wave packet propagation employed in this study is concluded to be very effective for analyzing in detail the reaction dynamics of isomerization for triatomic molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parametrization of the two-electron reduced density matrix (2-RDM) has recently enabled the direct calculation of electronic energies and 2-RDMs at the computational cost of configuration interaction with single and double excitations. While the original Kollmar energy functional yields energies slightly better than those from coupled cluster with single-double excitations, a general family of energy functionals has recently been developed whose energies approach those from coupled cluster with triple excitations [D. A. Mazziotti, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 253002 (2008)]. In this paper we test the parametric 2-RDM method with one of these improved functionals through its application to the conversion of hydrogen peroxide to oxywater. Previous work has predicted the barrier from oxywater to hydrogen peroxide with zero-point energy correction to be 3.3-to-3.9 kcal/mol from coupled cluster with perturbative triple excitations [CCSD(T)] and -2.3 kcal/mol from complete active-space second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) in augmented polarized triple-zeta basis sets. Using a larger basis set than previously employed for this reaction-an augmented polarized quadruple-zeta basis set (aug-cc-pVQZ)-with extrapolation to the complete basis-set limit, we examined the barrier with two parametric 2-RDM methods and three coupled cluster methods. In the basis-set limit the M parametric 2-RDM method predicts an activation energy of 2.1 kcal/mol while the CCSD(T) barrier becomes 4.2 kcal/mol. The dissociation energy of hydrogen peroxide to hydroxyl radicals is also compared to the activation energy for oxywater formation. We report energies, optimal geometries, dipole moments, and natural occupation numbers. Computed 2-RDMs nearly satisfy necessary N-representability conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) has recently been extended to describe many-body open quantum systems evolving under nonunitary dynamics according to a quantum master equation. In the master equation approach, electronic excitation spectra are broadened and shifted due to relaxation and dephasing of the electronic degrees of freedom by the surrounding environment. In this paper, we develop a formulation of TDDFT linear-response theory (LR-TDDFT) for many-body electronic systems evolving under a master equation, yielding broadened excitation spectra. This is done by mapping an interacting open quantum system onto a noninteracting open Kohn-Sham system yielding the correct nonequilibrium density evolution. A pseudoeigenvalue equation analogous to the Casida equations of the usual LR-TDDFT is derived for the Redfield master equation, yielding complex energies and Lamb shifts. As a simple demonstration, we calculate the spectrum of a C2 + atom including natural linewidths, by treating the electromagnetic field vacuum as a photon bath. The performance of an adiabatic exchange-correlation kernel is analyzed and a first-order frequency-dependent correction to the bare Kohn-Sham linewidth based on the Görling-Levy perturbation theory is calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have theoretically studied important dynamic processes involved in zero electron kinetic energy (ZEKE) spectroscopy using the density matrix method with the inverse Born-Oppenheimer approximation basis sets. In ZEKE spectroscopy, the ZEKE Rydberg states are populated by laser excitation (either a one- or two-photon process), which is followed by autoionizations and l-mixing due to a stray field. The discrimination field is then applied to ionize loosely bound electrons in the ZEKE states. This is followed by using the extraction field to extract electrons from the ZEKE levels which have a strength comparable to that of the extraction field. These extracted electrons are measured for the relative intensities of the ion states under investigation. The spectral positions are determined by the applied laser wavelength and modified by the extraction electric field. In this paper, all of these processes are conducted within the context of the density matrix method. The density matrix method can provide not only the dynamics of system's population and coherence (or phase) but also the rate constants of the processes involved in the ZEKE spectroscopy. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the theoretical treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the accuracy of the ΔSCF method for computing low-lying HOMO→LUMO transitions in organic dye molecules. For a test set of vertical excitation energies of 16 chromophores, surprisingly similar accuracy is observed for time-dependent density functional theory and for ΔSCF density functional theory. In light of this performance, we reconsider the ad hoc ΔSCF prescription and demonstrate that it formally obtains the exact stationary density within the adiabatic approximation, partially justifying its use. The relative merits and future prospects of ΔSCF for simulating individual excited states are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, we investigate the molecular structure and hyperfine couplings of a series of σ radicals containing first- and second-row atoms (H2CN,H2CP,NH2,PH2) for which accurate gas-phase microwave results are available. The presence of α- and, especially, β-hydrogen atoms makes the evaluation of magnetic properties of these radicals particularly challenging. Geometrical parameters have been computed by the coupled-cluster ansatz in conjunction with hierarchical series of basis sets, thus accounting for extrapolation to the complete basis-set limit. Core correlation as well as higher excitations in the electronic-correlation treatment have also been taken into account. An analogous approach has been employed for evaluating hyperfine coupling constants with particular emphasis given to basis-set, correlation, and geometrical effects. The corresponding vibrational corrections, required for a meaningful comparison to experimental data, have also been investigated. The remarkable agreement with experiment confirms the reliability of the present computational approach, already validated for π radicals, thus establishing the way for setting up a benchmark database for magnetic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the theory and implementation of the symmetry-adapted cluster (SAC) and symmetry-adapted cluster-configuration interaction (SAC-CI) method, including the solvent effect, using the polarizable continuum model (PCM). The PCM and SAC/SAC-CI were consistently combined in terms of the energy functional formalism. The excitation energies were calculated by means of the state-specific approach, the advantage of which over the linear-response approach has been shown. The single-point energy calculation and its analytical energy derivatives are presented and implemented, where the free-energy and its derivatives are evaluated because of the presence of solute-solvent interactions. We have applied this method to s-trans-acrolein and metylenecyclopropene of their electronic excitation in solution. The molecular geometries in the ground and excited states were optimized in vacuum and in solution, and both the vertical and adiabatic excitations were studied. The PCM-SAC/SAC-CI reproduced the known trend of the solvent effect on the vertical excitation energies but the shift values were underestimated. The excited state geometry in planar and nonplanar conformations was investigated. The importance of using state-specific methods was shown for the solvent effect on the optimized geometry in the excited state. The mechanism of the solvent effect is discussed in terms of the Mulliken charges and electronic dipole moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the control of electronic energy transfer in molecular dimers through the preparation of specific vibrational coherences prior to electronic excitation, and its observation by nonlinear wave-packet interferometry (nl-WPI). Laser-driven coherent nuclear motion can affect the instantaneous resonance between site-excited electronic states and thereby influence short-time electronic excitation transfer (EET). We first illustrate this control mechanism with calculations on a dimer whose constituent monomers undergo harmonic vibrations. We then consider the use of nl-WPI experiments to monitor the nuclear dynamics accompanying EET in general dimer complexes following impulsive vibrational excitation by a subresonant control pulse (or control pulse sequence). In measurements of this kind, two pairs of polarized phase-related femtosecond pulses following the control pulse generate superpositions of coherent nuclear wave packets in optically accessible electronic states. Interference contributions to the time- and frequency-integrated fluorescence signals due to overlaps among the superposed wave packets provide amplitude-level information on the nuclear and electronic dynamics. We derive the basic expression for a control-pulse-dependent nl-WPI signal. The electronic transition moments of the constituent monomers are assumed to have a fixed relative orientation, while the overall orientation of the complex is distributed isotropically. We include the limiting case of coincident arrival by pulses within each phase-related pair in which control-influenced nl-WPI reduces to a fluorescence-detected pump-probe difference experiment. Numerical calculations of pump-probe signals based on these theoretical expressions are presented in the following paper [J. D. Biggs and J. A. Cina, J. Chem. Phys. 131, 224302 (2009)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work I develop and apply a theoretical method for calculating effective electronic couplings (or transfer integrals) between redox sites involved in hole or electron transfer reactions. The resulting methodology is a refinement and a generalization of a recently developed approach for transfer integral evaluation. In fact, it holds for any overlap between the charge-localized states used to represent charge transfer (CT) processes in the two-state model. The presented theoretical and computational analyses show that the prototype approach is recovered for sufficiently small overlaps. The method does not involve any empirical parameter. It allows a complete multielectron description, therefore including electronic relaxation effects. Furthermore, its theoretical formulation holds at any value of the given reaction coordinate and yields a formula for the evaluation of the vertical excitation energy (i.e., the energy difference between the adiabatic ground and first-excited electronic states) that rests on the same physical quantities used in transfer integral calculation. In this paper the theoretical approach is applied to CT in B-DNA base dimers within the framework of Density Functional Theory (DFT), although it can be implemented in other computational schemes. The results of this work, as compared with previous Hartree–Fock (HF) and post-HF evaluations, support the applicability of the current implementation of the method to larger π-stacked arrays, where post-HF approaches are computationally unfeasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Support vector machines (SVMs), as a novel type of learning machine, has been very successful in pattern recognition and function estimation problems. In this paper we introduce least-squares (LS) SVMs to improve the calculation accuracy of density functional theory. As a demonstration, this combined quantum mechanical calculation with LS-SVM correction approach has been applied to evaluate the electronic excitation energies of 160 organic molecules. The newly introduced LS-SVM approach reduces the root-mean-square deviation of the calculated electronic excitation energies of 160 organic molecules from 0.32 to 0.11 eV for the B3LYP/6-31G(d) calculation. Thus, the LS-SVM correction on top of B3LYP/6-31G(d) is a better method to correct electronic excitation energies and can be used as the approximation of experimental results which are impossible to obtain experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is devoted to a full quantum mechanical study of the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in HFCO and DFCO. In contrast to our previous studies [Pasin et al., J. Chem. Phys. 124, 194304 (2006) and 126, 024302 (2007)], the dynamics is now performed in the presence of an external time-dependent field. This more closely reflects the experimental conditions. A six-dimensional dipole surface is computed. The multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method is exploited to propagate the corresponding six-dimensional wave packets. Special emphasis is placed on the excitation of the out-of-plane bending vibration and on the dissociation of the molecule. In the case of DFCO, we predict that it is possible to excite the out-of-plane bending mode of vibration and to drive the dissociation to DF+CO with only one laser pulse with a fixed frequency and without excitation of an electronic state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report laser-driven charge transfer simulations for Li-(Ph)n-CN (n=1,2,3) using the time-dependent configuration interaction single approach. These molecules serve as systematically extendable model systems, in order to investigate the selectivity, and thus controllability, of an ultrashort laser-induced electronic excitation as a function of the molecular size. For example, such control would be needed if a small electronic molecular switch is connected to a larger molecular device. We demonstrate that for larger molecules, the selectivity of the electronic transition is considerably reduced even for rather long pulses due to dynamic polarizations of the molecules. We also show that these dynamic polarizations might be substantially underestimated in few state models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report on the observation of multipolar surface plasmon excitation in lithographically designed gold nanotriangles, investigated by means of far-field extinction microspectroscopy in the wavelength range of 400–1000 nm. Several bands are observed in the visible and near infrared regions when increasing the side length of the triangles. The assignment of these peaks to successive in-plane multipolar plasmon modes is supported by calculations using the discrete dipole approximation method. We show that the lowest three multipolar excitations are clearly resolved in the visible and near infrared range. These new spectral features could be very promising in nanooptics or for chemosensing and biosensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the vertical excitation energies of total of 32 states of N2O4 including the lowest two singlet states and two triplet states of each of the Ag, B3u, B2u, B1g, B1u, B2g, B3g, and Au symmetries were calculated at multiconfigurational self-consistent field (MCSCF) and the multireference internally contracted configuration interaction (MRCI) levels of theory on the active space (15o,16e) with aug-cc-pVDZ basis set. The potential energy curves of the eight singlet states(1 1Ag, 1 1B3u, 1 1B2u, 1 1B1g, 1 1B1u, 1 1B2g, 1 1B3g, and 1 1Au) and eight triplet states (1 3Ag, 1 3B3u, 1 3B2u, 1 3B1g, 1 3B1u, 1 3B2g, 1 3B3g, and 1 3Au) were calculated at MCSCF and MRCI levels of theory on the active space (15o,16e) with aug-cc-pVDZ basis set along the N–N distance. The vertical excitation energies of 1 1B3u, 1 1B2u, and 1 1B1u states with nonzero transition moment are 4.60 eV (269.6 nm), 6.06 eV (204.6 nm), and 7.71 eV (160.8 nm), respectively, at MRCI level of theory. The photodissociation asymptotics were assigned as NO2(X 2A1)+NO2(X 2A1) for ground state 1 1Ag and the 1 3B1u state, NO2(X 2A1)+NO2(1 2A2) for the 1 1B1g, 1 3B1g, 1 1Au, and 1 3Au states, NO2(X 2A1)+NO2(1 2B1) for the 1 1B3u, 1 3B3u, 1 1B2g, and 1 3B2g states, and NO2(X 2A1)+NO2(1 2B2) for the 1 1B2u, 1 3B2u, 1 1B3g, and 1 3B3g states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is devoted to a full quantum mechanical study of the cis→trans isomerization of HONO. In contrast to our previous study [Richter et al., J. Chem. Phys. 120, 6072 (2004)], the dynamics is now performed in the presence of an external time-dependent field in order to be closer to experimental conditions. A six-dimensional dipole surface is computed. Using a previously developed potential energy surface [Richter et al., J. Chem. Phys. 120, 1306 (2004)], all eigenstates up to 4000 cm-1 are calculated. We simulate the dynamics during and after excitation by an electromagnetic pulse whose parameters are chosen to efficiently trigger the isomerization. Our investigations show that there is a selective isomerization pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the (ideal) infinite conjugated hydrocarbon polymers do not present a gap at the Fermi level in tight-binding calculations. However, due to the bielectronic interaction the excitation energy from the ground state to the lowest triplet state may be nonzero for some lattices (called spin gapped), while other lattices will keep a singlet-triplet degeneracy (spin-gapless lattices). This difference results in qualitative differences in their magnetic properties. Making use of the relevance of Heisenberg Hamiltonians for the study of the lowest states of conjugated hydrocarbons, this paper presents some qualitative arguments to predict the spin-gap character of various classes of such polymers. The arguments are based on real space renormalization group procedures, which considers fragments of the polymers as effective spins. Numerical evaluations, based on a renormalized excitonic method, confirm the qualitative predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficiency and directedness of resonance energy transfer, by means of which electronic excitation passes between molecular units or subunits, fundamentally depend on the spectral features of donor and acceptor components. In particular, the flow of energy between chromophores in complex energy harvesting materials is crucially dependent on a spectral overlap integral reflecting the relative positioning and shapes of the absorption and fluorescence bands. In this paper, analytical results for this integral are derived for bands of Gaussian and log normal line shape; the methods also prove applicable to double Gaussian curves under suitable conditions. Underlying principles have been ascertained through further development of theory, with physically reasonable assumptions. Consideration of the Gaussian case, widely applicable to spectra of symmetric form, reveals that the directional efficiency of energy transfer depends equally on a frequency shift characterizing the spectroscopic gradient and the Stokes shift. On application to tryptophan residues, calculations based on a minimal parameter set give excellent agreement with experiment. Finally, an illustrative application highlights the critical role that the spectroscopic gradient and Stokes shift can exercise in extended, multichromophore energy harvesting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the charge transfer and vibrational and electronic deexcitations between O2/O2++CO+/CO, O/O++CO2+/CO2, and C/C++O3+/O3, multistep reaction pathways are discussed in light of the theoretical data of this and previous paper together with close comparison with the experimental observations. Our calculations show that these pathways involve both the long range and molecular region ranges of the potential energy surfaces of the electronic states of the stable isomers of OOCO+ and mostly those of the weakly bound charge transfer complex OOCO+. The couplings between these electronic states such as vibronic, Renner-Teller, Jahn-Teller, and spin orbit are viewed to play crucial roles here. Moreover, the initial orientation of the reactants, in the entrance channels, strongly influences the reaction mechanisms undertaken. We propose for the first time a mechanism for the widely experimentally studied spin-forbidden exothermic O+(4Su)+CO2(X 1Σg+)→O2+(X 2Πg)+CO(X 1Σ+) reaction where the O turns around the OCO molecule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]