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In this paper, we report vibrational levels computed for Cl-H2O and compare with experimental observations and previous approximate calculations. In addition, we present rovibrational levels. The calculations are done using a symmetry adapted Lanczos algorithm and a product basis set and include all six vibrational coordinates. The basis functions have amplitude in both wells and enable us to determine tunnelling splittings. We use the potential energy surface of Rheinecker and Bowman [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 133206 (2006)]. Rovibrational levels are assigned vibrational labels using vibrational parent analysis. Our results reveal the effect of previous approximations, but are in fairly good agreement with prior calculations and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many problems in biology, chemistry, and materials science require knowledge of saddle points on free energy surfaces. These saddle points act as transition states and are the bottlenecks for transitions of the system between different metastable states. For simple systems in which the free energy depends on a few variables, the free energy surface can be precomputed, and saddle points can then be found using existing techniques. For complex systems, where the free energy depends on many degrees of freedom, this is not feasible. In this paper, we develop an algorithm for finding the saddle points on a high-dimensional free energy surface "on-the-fly" without requiring a priori knowledge the free energy function itself. This is done by using the general strategy of the heterogeneous multiscale method by applying a macro-scale solver, here the gentlest ascent dynamics algorithm, with the needed force and Hessian values computed on-the-fly using a micro-scale model such as molecular dynamics. The algorithm is capable of dealing with problems involving many coarse-grained variables. The utility of the algorithm is illustrated by studying the saddle points associated with (a) the isomerization transition of the alanine dipeptide using two coarse-grained variables, specifically the Ramachandran dihedral angles, and (b) the beta-hairpin structure of the alanine decamer using 20 coarse-grained variables, specifically the full set of Ramachandran angle pairs associated with each residue. For the alanine decamer, we obtain a detailed network showing the connectivity of the minima obtained and the saddle-point structures that connect them, which provides a way to visualize the gross features of the high-dimensional surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the first of a series of papers dealing with domain decomposition algorithms for implicit solvent models. We show that, in the framework of the COSMO model, with van der Waals molecular cavities and classical charge distributions, the electrostatic energy contribution to the solvation energy, usually computed by solving an integral equation on the whole surface of the molecular cavity, can be computed more efficiently by using an integral equation formulation of Schwarz's domain decomposition method for boundary value problems. In addition, the so-obtained potential energy surface is smooth, which is a critical property to perform geometry optimization and molecular dynamics simulations. The purpose of this first article is to detail the methodology, set up the theoretical foundations of the approach, and study the accuracies and convergence rates of the resulting algorithms. The full efficiency of the method and its applicability to large molecular systems of biological interest is demonstrated elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study dynamical phase transitions in a model supercooled liquid. These transitions occur in ensembles of trajectories that are biased towards low (or high) dynamical activity. We compare two different measures of activity that were introduced in recent papers and we find that they are anti-correlated with each other. To interpret this result, we show that the two measures couple to motion on different length and time scales. We find that 'inactive' states with very slow structural relaxation nevertheless have increased molecular motion on very short scales. We discuss these results in terms of the potential energy landscape of the system and in terms of the liquid structure in active/inactive states. [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]

The photochemistry of the water molecule has revealed a wealth of quantum phenomena, which arise from the involvement of several coupled electronic states with very different potential energy surfaces. Most recently, dissociation from single rotational levels of its C1B1 state near 124 nm has been attributed to a vibronically coupled decay via the lower Ã-state surface, despite a large vertical energy gap of 2.8 eV. Similar conclusions have been reached for subsequent experimental data for D2O. The present paper presents further experimental data for HOD and for both the H+OD(X) and D+OH(X) products. Unlike the cases for H2O and D2O, the vibrational populations for hydroxyl products do not follow a smooth distribution with v(OH/OD). In particular, for OH there is a clear alternation in population for all the strong peaks, with odd v favoured over even v. These experimental data are analysed using new MRCI+Q calculations, which have been used to generate potential surfaces and associated non-adiabatic matrix elements for transition from the adiabatic C-state to lower unbound potential surfaces; and hence, to guide dynamical calculations using time-dependent wavepackets. It is concluded that although there is a minor contribution from the C→ à decay route, the major route follows C→ 1A2 → Ã. This is mediated through two regions of near degeneracy of the elusive 1A2 surface with C for short bonds ca. 0.8 Å; and between 1A2 and à with long bonds ≥2 Å, thereby bridging the vertical energy gap. The striking population alternation for the D+OH(X) products is attributed to dynamic symmetry breaking on the 1A2 surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed description of a new ab initio interaction potential energy surfaces for the H2-CO complex computed on a six-dimensional grid (i.e., including the dependence on the H-H and C-O separations) is presented. The interaction energies were first calculated using the coupled-cluster method with single, double, and noniterative triple excitations and large basis sets, followed by an extrapolation procedure. Next, a contribution from iterative triple and noniterative quadruple excitations was added from calculations in smaller basis sets. The resulting interaction energies were then averaged over the ground-state and both ground- and first-excited-states vibrational wave functions of H2 and CO, respectively. The two resulting four-dimensional potential energy surfaces were fitted by analytic expressions. Theoretical infrared spectra calculated from these surfaces have already been shown [P. Jankowski, A. R. W. McKellar, and K. Szalewicz, Science 336, 1147 (2012)] to agree extremely well, to within a few hundredth of wavenumber, with the experimental spectra of the para and orthoH2-CO complex. In the latter case, this agreement enabled an assignment of the experimental spectrum, ten years after it had been measured. In the present paper, we provide details concerning the development of the surfaces and the process of spectral line assignment. Furthermore, we assign some transitions for paraH2-CO that have not been assigned earlier. A completely new element of the present work are experimental investigations of the orthoH2-CO complex using microwave spectroscopy. Vast parts of the measured spectrum have been interpreted by comparisons with the infrared experiments, including new low-temperature ones, and theoretical spectrum. Better understanding of the spectra of both para and orthoH2-CO complexes provides a solid foundation for a new search of the bound H2-CO complex in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how a compact finite difference Hessian approximation scheme can be proficiently implemented into semiclassical initial value representation molecular dynamics. Effects of the approximation on the monodromy matrix calculation are tested by propagating initial sampling distributions to determine power spectra for analytic potential energy surfaces and for 'on the fly' carbon dioxide direct dynamics. With the approximation scheme the computational cost is significantly reduced, making ab initio direct semiclassical dynamics computationally more feasible and, at the same time, properly reproducing important quantum effects inherent in the monodromy matrix and the pre-exponential factor of the semiclassical propagator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to its large dipole, astrophysicists use carbon monosulfide (CS) as a tracer of molecular gas in the interstellar medium, often in regions where H2 is the most abundant collider. Predictions of the rovibrational energy levels of the weakly bound complex CS-H2 (not yet observed) and also of rate coefficients for rotational transitions of CS in collision with H2 should help to interpret the observed spectra. This paper deals with the first goal, i.e., the calculation of the rovibrational energy levels. A new four-dimensional intermolecular potential energy surface for the H2-CS complex is presented. Ab initio potential energy calculations were carried out at the coupled-cluster level with single and double excitations and a perturbative treatment of triple excitations, using a quadruple-zeta basis set and midbond functions. The potential energy surface was obtained by an analytic fit of the ab initio data. The equilibrium structure of the H2-CS complex is found to be linear with the carbon pointing toward H2 at the intermolecular separation of 8.6 ao. The corresponding well depth is -173 cm-1. The potential was used to calculate the rovibrational energy levels of the para-H2-CS and ortho-H2-CS complexes. The present work provides the first theoretical predictions of these levels. The calculated dissociation energies are found to be 35.9 cm-1 and 49.9 cm-1, respectively, for the para and ortho complexes. The second virial coefficient for the H2-CS pair has also been calculated for a large range of temperature. These results could be used to assign future experimental spectra and to check the accuracy of the potential energy surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the liquid-solid coexistence of NaCl-type alkali halides, described by interaction potentials such as Tosi-Fumi (TF), Smith-Dang (SD), and Joung-Cheatham (JC), and compute their melting temperature (Tm) at 1 bar via three independent routes: (1) liquid/solid direct coexistence, (2) free-energy calculations, and (3) Hamiltonian Gibbs-Duhem integration. The melting points obtained by the three routes are consistent with each other. The calculated Tm of the Tosi-Fumi model of NaCl is in good agreement with the experimental value as well as with other numerical calculations. However, the other two models considered for NaCl, SD and JC, overestimate the melting temperature of NaCl by more than 200 K. We have also computed the melting temperature of other alkali halides using the Tosi-Fumi interaction potential and observed that the predictions are not always as close to the experimental values as they are for NaCl. It seems that there is still room for improvement in the area of force-fields for alkaline halides, given that so far most models are still unable to describe a simple yet important property such as the melting point. [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]

A theoretical study of the photoabsorption spectroscopy of hexafluorobenzene (HFBz) is presented in this paper. The chemical effect due to fluorine atom substitution on the electronic structure of benzene (Bz) saturates in HFBz. State- of-the-art quantum chemistry calculations are carried out to establish potential energy surfaces and coupling surfaces of five energetically low-lying electronic (two of them are orbitally degenerate) states of HFBz. Coupling of these electronic states caused by the Jahn-Teller (JT) and pseudo-Jahn-Teller (PJT) type of interactions are examined. The impact of these couplings on the nuclear dynamics of the participating electronic states is thoroughly investigated by quantum mechanical methods and the results are compared with those observed in the experiments. The complex structure of the S1 ← S0 absorption band is found to originate from a very strong nonadiabatic coupling of the S2 (of πσ* origin) and S1 (of ππ* origin) state. While S2 state is orbitally degenerate and JT active, the S1 state is nondegenerate. These states form energetically low-lying conical intersections (CIs) in HFBz. These CIs are found to be the mechanistic bottleneck of the observed low quantum yield of fluorescence emission, non overlapping absorption, and emission bands of HFBz and contribute to the spectral width. Justification is also provided for the observed two peaks in the second absorption (the unassigned 'c band') band of HFBz. The peaks observed in the third, fourth, and fifth absorption bands are also identified and assigned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lowest singlet and triplet electronic levels of the A′ and A″ symmetry species of the neutral copper-nitrosyl (CuNO) system are calculated by ab initio methods at the multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) level of theory with single and double excitations, and at the coupled cluster level of theory with both perturbational (CCSD(T)) and full inclusion of triple excitations (CCSDT). Experimental data are difficult to obtain, hence the importance of carrying out calculations as accurate as possible to address the structure and dynamics of this system. This paper aims at validating a theoretical protocol to develop global potential energy surfaces for transition metal nitrosyl complexes. For the MRCI calculations, the comparison of level energies at linear structures and their values from C2v and Cs symmetry restricted calculations has allowed to obtain clear settings regarding atomic basis sizes, active orbital spaces and roots obtained at the multi-configurational self-consistent field (MCSCF) level of theory. It is shown that a complete active space involving 18 valence electrons, 11 molecular orbitals and the prior determination of 12 roots in the MCSCF calculation is needed for overall qualitatively correct results from the MRCI calculations. Atomic basis sets of the valence triple-zeta type are sufficient. The present calculations yield a bound singlet A′ ground state for CuNO. The CCSD(T) calculations give a quantitatively more reliable account of electronic correlation close to equilibrium, while the MRCI energies allow to ensure the qualitative assessment needed for global potential energy surfaces. Relativistic coupled cluster calculations using the Douglas-Kroll-Hess Hamiltonian yield a dissociation energy of CuNO into Cu and NO to be (59 ± 5) kJ mol-1 ((4940 ± 400) hc cm-1). Favorable comparison is made with some of previous theoretical results and a few known experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multiscale coarse-graining (MS-CG) method is a method for constructing a coarse-grained (CG) model of a system using data obtained from molecular dynamics simulations of the corresponding atomically detailed model. The formal statistical mechanical derivation of the method shows that the potential energy function extracted from an MS-CG calculation is a variational approximation for the true potential of mean force of the CG sites, one that becomes exact in the limit that a complete basis set is used in the variational calculation if enough data are obtained from the atomistic simulations. Most applications of the MS-CG method have employed a representation for the nonbonded part of the CG potential that is a sum of all possible pair interactions. This approach, despite being quite successful for some CG models, is inadequate for some others. Here we propose a systematic method for including three body terms as well as two body terms in the nonbonded part of the CG potential energy. The current method is more general than a previous version presented in a recent paper of this series [L. Larini, L. Lu, and G. A. Voth, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 164107 (2010)], in the sense that it does not make any restrictive choices for the functional form of the three body potential. We use hierarchical multiresolution functions that are similar to wavelets to develop very flexible basis function expansions with both two and three body basis functions. The variational problem is solved by a numerical technique that is capable of automatically selecting an appropriate subset of basis functions from a large initial set. We apply the method to two very different coarse-grained models: a solvent free model of a two component solution made of identical Lennard-Jones particles and a one site model of SPC/E water where a site is placed at the center of mass of each water molecule. These calculations show that the inclusion of three body terms in the nonbonded CG potential can lead to significant improvement in the accuracy of CG potentials and hence of CG simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calibration-quality ab initio adiabatic potential energy surfaces (PES) have been determined for all isotopologues of the molecular ion H3+. The underlying Born-Oppenheimer electronic structure computations used optimized explicitly correlated shifted Gaussian functions. The surfaces include diagonal Born-Oppenheimer corrections computed from the accurate electronic wave functions. A fit to the 41 655 ab initio points is presented which gives a standard deviation better than 0.1 cm-1 when restricted to the points up to 6000 cm-1 above the first dissociation asymptote. Nuclear motion calculations utilizing this PES, called GLH3P, and an exact kinetic energy operator given in orthogonal internal coordinates are presented. The ro-vibrational transition frequencies for H3+, H2D+, and HD2+ are compared with high resolution measurements. The most sophisticated and complete procedure employed to compute ro-vibrational energy levels, which makes explicit allowance for the inclusion of non-adiabatic effects, reproduces all the known ro-vibrational levels of the H3+ isotopologues considered to better than 0.2 cm-1. This represents a significant (order-of-magnitude) improvement compared to previous studies of transitions in the visible. Careful treatment of linear geometries is important for high frequency transitions and leads to new assignments for some of the previously observed lines. Prospects for further investigations of non-adiabatic effects in the H3+ isotopologues are discussed. In short, the paper presents (a) an extremely accurate global potential energy surface of H3+ resulting from high accuracy ab initio computations and global fit, (b) very accurate nuclear motion calculations of all available experimental line data up to 16 000 cm-1, and (c) results suggest that we can predict accurately the lines of H3+ towards dissociation and thus facilitate their experimental observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the first of a two-part series dealing with quantum-mechanical (density-functional-based) studies of helium-mediated deposition of catalytic species on the rutile TiO2(110)-(1×1) surface. The interaction of helium with the TiO2(110)-(1×1) surface is first evaluated using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof functional at a numerical grid dense enough to build an analytical three-dimensional potential energy surface. Three (two prototype) potential models for the He-surface interaction in helium scattering calculations are analyzed to build the analytical potential energy surface: (1) the hard-corrugated-wall potential model; (2) the corrugated-Morse potential model; and (3) the three-dimensional Morse potential model. Different model potentials are then used to study the dynamics upon collision of a 4He300 cluster with the TiO2(110) surface at zero temperature within the framework of a time-dependent density-functional approach for the quantum fluid [D. Mateo, D. Jin, M. Barranco, and M. Pi, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 044507 (2011)] and classical dynamics calculations. The laterally averaged density functional theory-based potential with an added long-range dispersion interaction term is further applied. At variance with classical dynamics calculations, showing helium droplet splashing out of the surface at impact, the time evolution of the macroscopic helium wave-function predicts that the helium droplet spreads on the rutile surface and leads to the formation of a thin film above the substrate. This work thus provides a basis for simulating helium mediated deposition of metallic clusters embedded within helium nanodroplets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of complex systems often involve thermally activated barrier crossing events that allow these systems to move from one basin of attraction on the high dimensional energy surface to another. Such events are ubiquitous, but challenging to simulate using conventional simulation tools, such as molecular dynamics. Recently, E and Zhou [Nonlinearity 24(6), 1831 (2011)] proposed a set of dynamic equations, the gentlest ascent dynamics (GAD), to describe the escape of a system from a basin of attraction and proved that solutions of GAD converge to index-1 saddle points of the underlying energy. In this paper, we extend GAD to enable finite temperature simulations in which the system hops between different saddle points on the energy surface. An effective strategy to use GAD to sample an ensemble of low barrier saddle points located in the vicinity of a locally stable configuration on the high dimensional energy surface is proposed. The utility of the method is demonstrated by studying the low barrier saddle points associated with point defect activity on a surface. This is done for two representative systems, namely, (a) a surface vacancy and ad-atom pair and (b) a heptamer island on the (111) surface of copper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common feature in computations of chemical and physical properties is the investigation of phenomena at different levels of computational accuracy. Less accurate computations are used to provide a relatively quick understanding of the behavior of a system and allow a researcher to focus on regions of initial conditions and parameter space where interesting phenomena are likely to occur. These inexpensive calculations are often discarded when more accurate calculations are performed. This paper demonstrates how computations at different levels of accuracy can be simultaneously incorporated to study chemical and physical phenomena with less overall computational effort than the most expensive level of computation. A smaller set of computationally expensive calculations is needed because the set of expensive calculations is correlated with the larger set of less expensive calculations. We present two applications. First, we demonstrate how potential energy surfaces can be fit by simultaneously using results from two different levels of accuracy in electronic structure calculations. In the second application, we study the optical response of metallic nanostructures. The optical response is generated with calculations at two different grid resolutions, and we demonstrate how using these two levels of computation in a correlated fashion can more efficiently optimize the response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently introduced a parameterized coupled-cluster singles and doubles model (pCCSD(α, β)) that consists of a bivariate parameterization of the CCSD equations and is inspired by the coupled electron pair approximations. In our previous work, it was demonstrated that the pCCSD(-1, 1) method is an improvement over CCSD for the calculation of geometries, harmonic frequencies, and potential energy surfaces for single bond-breaking. In this paper, we find suitable pCCSD parameters for applications in reaction thermochemistry and thermochemical kinetics. The motivation is to develop an accurate and economical methodology that, when coupled with a robust local correlation framework based on localized pair natural orbitals, is suitable for large-scale thermochemical applications for sizeable molecular systems. It is demonstrated that the original pCCSD(-1, 1) method and several other pCCSD methods are a significant improvement upon the standard CCSD approach and that these methods often approach the accuracy of CCSD(T) for the calculation of reaction energies and barrier heights. We also show that a local version of the pCCSD methodology, implemented within the local pair natural orbital (LPNO) based CCSD code in ORCA, is sufficiently accurate for wide-scale chemical applications. The LPNO based methodology allows us for routine applications to intermediate sized (20-100 atoms) molecular systems and is a significantly more accurate alternative to MP2 and density functional theory for the prediction of reaction energies and barrier heights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi-configuration electron-nuclear dynamics (MCEND) method is a nonadiabatic quantum dynamics approach to the description of molecular processes. MCEND is a combination of the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method for atoms and its antisymmetrized equivalent MCTDHF for electrons. The purpose of this method is to simultaneously describe nuclear and electronic wave packets in a quantum dynamical way, without the need to calculate potential energy surfaces and diabatic coupling functions. In this paper we present first exemplary calculations of MCEND applied to the LiH molecule, and discuss computational and numerical details of our implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of non-singlet molecules in chemistry, most variational second order density matrix calculations have focused on singlet states. Ensuring that a second order density matrix is derivable from a proper N-electron spin state is a difficult problem because the second order density matrix only describes one- and two-particle interactions. In pursuit of a consistent description of spin in second order density matrix theory, we propose and evaluate two main approaches: we consider constraints derived from a pure spin state and from an ensemble of spin states. This paper makes a comparative assessment of the different approaches by applying them to potential energy surfaces for different spin states of the oxygen and carbon dimer. We observe two major shortcomings of the applied spin constraints: they are not size consistent and they do not reproduce the degeneracy of the different states in a spin multiplet. First of all, the spin constraints are less strong when applied to a dissociated molecule than when they are applied to the dissociation products separately. Although they impose correct spin expectation values on the dissociated molecule, the dissociation products do not have correct spin expectation values. Secondly, both under 'pure spin state conditions' and under 'ensemble spin state' conditions is the energy a convex function of the spin projection. Potential energy surfaces for different spin projections of the same spin state may give a completely different picture of the molecule's bonding. The maximal spin projection always gives the most strongly constrained energy, but is also significantly more expensive to compute than a spin-averaged ensemble. In the dissociation limit, both the problem of nondegeneracy of equivalent spin projections, size-inconsistency and unphysical dissociation can be corrected by means of subspace energy constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports on a successful observation of high resolution Fourier transform spectra of LiCa. The fine structure of the ground state was observed and attributed to effective spin-rotation interaction. The experimental observations are described by two models using potential energy curves. One of them takes into account the fine structure splitting by means of effective constants, the other by means of a R dependent function γ(R), built in the radial Schrödinger equation. Ab initio calculations were performed for γ(R) which comes close to the experimental function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We locate the putative global minimum structures of NaxCs55 - x and LixCs55 - x nanoalloys through combined empirical potential and density functional theory calculations, and compare them to the structures of 55-atom Li-Na and Na-K nanoalloys obtained in a recent paper [A. Aguado and J. M. López, J. Chem. Phys. 133, 094302 (2010)]. Alkali nanoalloys are representative of isovalent metallic mixtures with a strong tendency towards core-shell segregation, and span a wide range of size mismatches. By comparing the four systems, we analyse how the size mismatch and composition affect the structures and relative stabilities of these mixtures, and identify useful generic trends. The Na-K system is found to possess a nearly optimal size mismatch for the formation of poly-icosahedral (pIh) structures with little strain. In systems with a larger size mismatch (Na-Cs and Li-Cs), frustration of the pIh packing induces for some compositions a reconstruction of the core, which adopts instead a decahedral packing. When the size mismatch is smaller than optimal (Li-Na), frustration leads to a partial amorphization of the structures. The excess energies are negative for all systems except for a few compositions, demonstrating that the four mixtures are reactive. Moreover, we find that Li-Cs and Li-Na mixtures are more reactive (i.e., they have more negative excess energies) than Na-K and Na-Cs mixtures, so the stability trends when comparing the different materials are exactly opposite to the trends observed in the bulk limit: the strongly non-reactive Li-alkali bulk mixtures become the most reactive ones at the nanoscale. For each material, we identify the magic composition xm which minimizes the excess energy. xm is found to increase with the size mismatch due to steric crowding effects, and for LixCs55 - x the most stable cluster has almost equiatomic composition. We advance a simple geometric packing rule that suffices to systematize all the observed trends in systems with large size mismatch (Na-K, Na-Cs, and Li-Cs). As the size mismatch is reduced, however, electron shell effects become more and more important and contribute significantly to the stability of the Li-Na system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the development of isotropic particle-based coarse-grain models for crystalline hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-s-triazine (RDX). The coarse graining employs the recently proposed multiscale coarse-graining (MS-CG) method, which is a particle-based force-matching approach for deriving free-energy effective interaction potentials. Though one-site and four-site coarse-grain (CG) models were parameterized from atomistic simulations of non-ordered (molten and ambient temperature amorphous) systems, the focus of the paper is a detailed study of the one-site model with a brief recourse to the four-site model. To improve the ability of the one-site model to be applied to crystalline phases at various pressures, it was found necessary to include explicit dependence on a particle density, and a new theory of local density-dependent MS-CG potentials is subsequently presented. The density-dependency is implemented through interpolation of MS-CG force fields derived at a preselected set of reference densities. The computationally economical procedure for obtaining the reference force fields starting from the interaction at ambient density is also described. The one-site MS-CG model adequately describes the atomistic lattice structure of α-RDX at ambient and high pressures, elastic and vibrational properties, pressure-volume curve up to P = 10 GPa, and the melting temperature. In the molten state, the model reproduces the correct pair structure at different pressures as well as higher order correlations. The potential of the MS-CG model is further evaluated in simulations of shocked crystalline RDX [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this series of studies, we systematically apply the analytical energy gradients of the direct symmetry-adapted cluster-configuration interaction singles and doubles nonvariational method to calculate the equilibrium geometries and vibrational frequencies of excited and ionized states of molecules. The harmonic vibrational frequencies were calculated using the second derivatives numerically computed from the analytical first derivatives and the anharmonicity was evaluated from the three-dimensional potential energy surfaces around the local minima. In this paper, the method is applied to the low-lying valence singlet and triplet excited states of HAX-type molecules, HCF, HCCl, HSiF, HSiCl, HNO, HPO, and their deuterium isotopomers. The vibrational level emission spectra of HSiF and DSiF and absorption spectra of HSiCl and DSiCl were also simulated within the Franck-Condon approximation and agree well with the experimental spectra. The results show that the present method is useful and reliable for calculating these quantities and spectra. The change in geometry in the excited states was qualitatively interpreted in the light of the electrostatic force theory. The effect of perturbation selection with the localized molecular orbitals on the geometrical parameters and harmonic vibrational frequencies is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we continue our studies of the phase space geometry and dynamics associated with index k saddles (k > 1) of the potential energy surface. Using Poincaré-Birkhoff normal form (NF) theory, we give an explicit formula for a 'dividing surface' in phase space, i.e., a codimension one surface (within the energy shell) through which all trajectories that 'cross' the region of the index k saddle must pass. With a generic non-resonance assumption, the normal form provides k (approximate) integrals that describe the saddle dynamics in a neighborhood of the index k saddle. These integrals provide a symbolic description of all trajectories that pass through a neighborhood of the saddle. We give a parametrization of the dividing surface which is used as the basis for a numerical method to sample the dividing surface. Our techniques are applied to isomerization dynamics on a potential energy surface having four minima; two symmetry related pairs of minima are connected by low energy index 1 saddles, with the pairs themselves connected via higher energy index 1 saddles and an index 2 saddle at the origin. We compute and sample the dividing surface and show that our approach enables us to distinguish between concerted crossing ('hilltop crossing') isomerizing trajectories and those trajectories that are not concerted crossing (potentially sequentially isomerizing trajectories). We then consider the effect of additional 'bath modes' on the dynamics, by a study of a four degree-of-freedom system. For this system we show that the normal form and dividing surface can be realized and sampled and that, using the approximate integrals of motion and our symbolic description of trajectories, we are able to choose initial conditions corresponding to concerted crossing isomerizing trajectories and (potentially) sequentially isomerizing trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A state-specific partially internally contracted multireference coupled cluster approach is presented for general complete active spaces with arbitrary number of active electrons. The dominant dynamical correlation is included via an exponential parametrization of internally contracted cluster operators (T⁁) which excite electrons from a multideterminantal reference function. The remaining dynamical correlation and relaxation effects are included via a diagonalization of the transformed Hamiltonian H⁁=e-T⁁H⁁eT⁁ in the multireference configuration interaction singles space in an uncontracted fashion. A new set of residual equations for determining the internally contracted cluster amplitudes is proposed. The second quantized matrix elements of H⁁, expressed using the extended normal ordering of Kutzelnigg and Mukherjee, are used as the residual equations without projection onto the excited configurations. These residual equations, referred to as the many-body residuals, do not have any near-singularity and thus, should allow one to solve all the amplitudes without discarding any. There are some relatively minor remaining convergence issues that may arise from an attempt to solve all the amplitudes and an initial analysis is provided in this paper. Applications to the bond-stretching potential energy surfaces for N2, CO, and the low-lying electronic states of C2 indicate clear improvements of the results using the many-body residuals over the conventional projected residual equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When phenol is photoexcited to its S1 (11ππ*) state at wavelengths in the range 257.403 ≤ λphot ≤ 275.133 nm the O-H bond dissociates to yield an H atom and a phenoxyl co-product, with the available energy shared between translation and well characterised product vibration. It is accepted that dissociation is enabled by transfer to an S2 (11πσ*) state, for which the potential energy surface (PES) is repulsive in the O-H stretch coordinate, RO-H. This S2 PES is cut by the S1 PES near RO-H = 1.2 Å and by the S0 ground state PES near RO-H = 2.1 Å, to give two conical intersections (CIs). These have each been invoked-both in theoretical studies and in the interpretation of experimental vibrational activity-but with considerable controversy. This paper revisits the dynamic mechanisms that underlie the photodissociation of phenol and substituted phenols in the light of symmetry restrictions arising from torsional tunnelling degeneracy, which has been neglected hitherto. This places tighter symmetry constraints on the dynamics around the two CIs. The non-rigid molecular symmetry group G4 necessitates vibronic interactions by a2 modes to enable coupling at the inner, higher energy (S1/S2) CI, or by b1 modes at the outer, lower energy (S2/S0) CI. The experimental data following excitation through many vibronic levels of the S1 state of phenol and substituted phenols demonstrate the effective role of the ν16a (a2) ring torsional mode in enabling O-H bond fission. This requires tunnelling under the S1/S2 CI, with a hindering barrier of ∼5000 cm-1 and with the associated geometric phase effect. Quantum dynamic calculations using new ab initio PESs provide quantitative justification for this conclusion. The fates of other excited S1 modes are also rationalised, revealing both spectator modes and intramolecular vibrational redistribution between modes. A common feature in many cases is the observation of an extended, odd-number only, progression in product mode ν16a (i.e., the parent mode which enables S1/S2 tunnelling), which we explain as a Franck-Condon consequence of a major change in the active vibration frequency. These comprehensive results serve to confirm the hypothesis that O-H fission following excitation to the S1 state involves tunnelling under the S1/S2 CI-in accord with conclusions reached from a recent correlation of the excited state lifetimes of phenol (and many substituted phenols) with the corresponding vertical energy gaps between their S1 and S2 PESs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Markov state models of molecular kinetics (MSMs), in which the long-time statistical dynamics of a molecule is approximated by a Markov chain on a discrete partition of configuration space, have seen widespread use in recent years. This approach has many appealing characteristics compared to straightforward molecular dynamics simulation and analysis, including the potential to mitigate the sampling problem by extracting long-time kinetic information from short trajectories and the ability to straightforwardly calculate expectation values and statistical uncertainties of various stationary and dynamical molecular observables. In this paper, we summarize the current state of the art in generation and validation of MSMs and give some important new results. We describe an upper bound for the approximation error made by modeling molecular dynamics with a MSM and we show that this error can be made arbitrarily small with surprisingly little effort. In contrast to previous practice, it becomes clear that the best MSM is not obtained by the most metastable discretization, but the MSM can be much improved if non-metastable states are introduced near the transition states. Moreover, we show that it is not necessary to resolve all slow processes by the state space partitioning, but individual dynamical processes of interest can be resolved separately. We also present an efficient estimator for reversible transition matrices and a robust test to validate that a MSM reproduces the kinetics of the molecular dynamics data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrogen storage system LiH + NH3 ↔ LiNH2 + H2 is one of the most promising hydrogen storage systems, where the reaction yield can be increased by replacing Li in LiH with other alkali metals (Na or K) in order of Li < Na < K. In this paper, we have studied the alkali metal M (M = Li, Na, K) dependence of the reactivity of MH with NH3 by calculating the potential barrier of the H2 desorption process from the reaction of an M2H2 cluster with an NH3 molecule based on the ab initio structure optimization method. We have shown that the height of the potential barrier becomes lower in order of Li, Na, and K, where the difference of the potential barrier in Li and Na is relatively smaller than that in Na and K, and this tendency is consistent with the recent experimental results. We have also shown that the H-H distance of the H2 dimer at the transition state takes larger distance and the change of the potential energy around the transition state becomes softer in order of Li, Na, and K. There are almost no M dependence in the charge of the H atom in NH3 before the reaction, while that of the H atom in M2H2 takes larger negative value in order of Li, Na, and K. We have also performed molecular dynamics simulations on the M2H2-NH3 system and succeeded to reproduce the H2 desorption from the reaction of Na2H2 with NH3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous paper [J. L. McAfee and B. Poirier, J. Chem. Phys. 130, 064701 (2009)], using spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT), the authors reported a binding energy of 0.755 eV, for a single hydrogen atom adsorbed on a pristine (unrelaxed) (5,5) single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) substrate. A full three-dimensional (3D) potential energy surface (PES) for the SWNT-H system was also developed, and used in a quantum dynamics calculation to compute all rovibrational bound states, and associated equatorial and longitudinal adsorbate migration rates. A highly pronounced preference for the latter migration pathway at ambient temperatures was observed. In this work, we extend the aforementioned study to include multiple H-atom adsorbates. Extensive DFT calculations are performed, in order to ascertain the most relevant dynamical pathways. For two adsorbates, the SWNT-H-H system is found to exhibit highly site-specific binding, as well as long-range correlation and pronounced binding energy enhancement. The latter effect is even more pronounced in the full-hydrogenation limit, increasing the per-adsorbate binding energy to 2.6 eV. To study migration dynamics, a single-hole model is developed, for which the binding energy drops to 2.11 eV. A global 3D PES is developed for the hole migration model, using 40 radial × 18 cylindrical ab initio geometries, fit to a Fourier basis with radially dependent expansion coefficients (rms error 4.9 meV). As compared with the single-adsorbate case, the hole migration PES does not exhibit separate chemisorption and physisorption wells. The barrier to longitudinal migration is also found to be much lower. Quantum dynamics calculations for all rovibrational states are then performed (using a mixed spectral basis/phase-space optimized discrete variable representation), and used to compute longitudinal migration rates. Ramifications for the use of SWNTs as potential hydrogen storage materials are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously reported experimental evidence for conformationally selective dissociation of propanal cation that was interpreted, on the basis of ab initio multiple spawning calculations, as arising from distinct dynamics in the excited state manifold of the cation. Two conical intersections (CIs) are accessible from Franck-Condon points on the dark state; however, different conformers prefer different CIs and quench to different regions on the ground state. In this paper, we extend our initial report to include experimental results for the partially deuterated propanal cation as well as detailed characterization of the ground state potential energy surface and statistical calculations of the ground state dissociation dynamics. The DC slice imaging experiments show a bimodal velocity distribution for H elimination with the observed branching ratio of the two channels different for the cis and gauche conformers. H(D)-elimination experiments from deuterated propanal cation support the dissociation mechanism proposed in the earlier report. We further investigate reaction rates on the ground state using Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory. We find that the experimental results are consistent with a mechanistic picture where the ground state dissociation is statistical, and conformer specificity of the dissociation products arises because of the different populations in distinct ground state isomers after photoexcitation due to ultrafast quenching to the ground state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose a new quadrature scheme for computing vibrational spectra and apply it, using a Lanczos algorithm, to CH3CN. All 12 coordinates are treated explicitly. We need only 157'419'523 quadrature points. It would not be possible to use a product Gauss grid because 33 853 318 889 472 product Gauss points would be required. The nonproduct quadrature we use is based on ideas of Smolyak, but they are extended so that they can be applied when one retains basis functions θn1(r1)...θnD(rD) that satisfy the condition α1n1 + ··· + αDnD <= b, where the αk are integers. We demonstrate that it is possible to exploit the structure of the grid to efficiently evaluate the matrix-vector products required to use the Lanczos algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general strategy to calculate potential curves at multiconfigurational self-consistent field (MCSCF) level for inner-shell states is reported in this paper. Convergence is commonly very tough for inner-shell states, especially at this level of calculation, due to the problem of variational collapse of the inner-shell wave function to the ground or to a low-lying excited state. The present method allows to avoid this drawback by a sequence of constrained optimization in the orbital mixing step. The specific states studied are that resulting from transitions X 1Σ+ → (C 1s-1 π*) 1,3Π of CO. Accurate values are achieved for transition energies and vibrational splittings. A comparison is made with other approach, i.e., inner-shell CI based on a MCSCF wave function optimized for ground or low-lying excited states. This last approach is shown to fail in describing the whole potential curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following our work on the study of helium droplets and film doped with one electronically excited rubidium atom Rb* (2P) [M. Leino, A. Viel, and R. E. Zillich, J. Chem. Phys. 129, 184308 (2008)], we focus in this paper on the second excited state. We present theoretical studies of such droplets and films using quantum Monte Carlo approaches. Diffusion and path integral Monte Carlo algorithms combined with a diatomics-in-molecule scheme to model the nonpair additive potential energy surface are used to investigate the energetics and the structure of Rb*Hen clusters. Helium films as a model for the limit of large clusters are also considered. As in our work on the first electronic excited state, our present calculations find stable Rb*Hen clusters. The structures obtained are however different with a He-Rb*-He exciplex core to which more helium atoms are weakly attached, preferentially on one end of the core exciplex. The electronic absorption spectrum is also presented for increasing cluster sizes as well as for the film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have carried out the first calculations of the infrared absorption spectrum of cyclic-N3. Accurate vibrational energies and wave functions computed with incorporation of the geometric phase effect (via gauge theory) and using an ab initio potential energy surface were employed in this work. A sophisticated fully dimensional dipole moment function was constructed using accurate ab initio calculations and a three-dimensional-spline interpolation. Transformation of the dipole moment vector function from the reference frame associated with instantaneous principal axes of inertia to the laboratory-fixed reference frame was carried out using hyperspherical coordinates. We found that the permanent dipole moment of cyclic-N3 in the ground vibrational state is relatively small (170 mD). The excited vibrational states show permanent dipole moments in the 10-25 mD range. The most intense part of the infrared absorption spectrum is observed in the deep infrared part of spectrum, 75-275 cm-1, where five lines exhibit absolute absorption intensities in the range between 0.5 and 1.2 km/mol. These transitions correspond to excitation of the pseudorotational progression of states. Several unique spectroscopic features discussed in the paper should help to identify cyclic-N3 in the laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ground state van der Waals potential of the magnesium dimer is described by the Tang–Toennies potential model, which requires five essential parameters. Among them, the three dispersion coefficients C6, C8, and C10 are available from accurate ab initio calculations. The other two are the Born–Mayer parameters in A exp(-bR). In this paper, we show that A and b can be determined from the self-consistent Hartree–Fock calculations and the experimental dissociation energy D0. The predicted well depth De and equilibrium distance Re are in nearly perfect agreement with the experiment. In fact, the entire potential energy curve, which is given by a single analytic function, is in excellent agreement with the pointwise potential energies constructed from the spectroscopic measurements in the interval of 6a0–14a0 and in good agreement with the experimental repulsive potential determined from Franck–Condon factors of the bound-free transitions for R less than 6a0. The reduced potential of Mg2 is analyzed in terms of its components, and the number of terms in the dispersion series necessary for convergence is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a family of generally applicable schemes for updating the Hessian from electronic structure calculations based on an equation derived with compact finite difference (CFD). The CFD-based equation is of higher accuracy than the quasi-Newton equation on which existing generally applicable Hessian update schemes are based. Direct tests of Hessian update schemes, as well as dynamics simulations using an integrator incorporating Hessian update schemes, have shown four of the new schemes produce reliably higher accuracy than existing Hessian update schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classical density functional theories usually separate the formulation of the excess Helmholtz free energy in hard-body and energetic contributions. Fundamental measure theories (FMTs) have emerged as the preferred choice to account for the former contribution. The evaluation of geometrically weighted densities (convolutions) arisen in FMT for hard spheres in long cylindrical cavities is addressed in this paper. Previously, Malijevský [J. Chem. Phys. 126, 134710 (2007)] reported expressions containing elliptic integrals for the kernels of the convolutions involving scalar and vectorial weights. Here, the set of kernels is extended to second and third order tensorial weights that introduce desirable dimensional crossover properties to the evaluation of the excess free energy. An alternative formulation for the convolutions, which greatly facilitates their computation, is also proposed. Integrals of the original kernels arise in this way and a set of expressions for them, again expressed in terms of elliptic integrals, is presented here. With the aim of providing a computationally simple framework to evaluate equilibrium density profile with cylindrical symmetry, a procedure based on direct minimization of the discretized grand potential energy, rather than employing the Euler–Lagrange equilibrium conditions, is discussed and used to identify differences between two FMT formulations, including or not second order tensorial kernels in very narrow cylindrical pores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structures, binding energies, and vibrational frequencies of (NH3)n (n=2–5) isomers and dynamical properties of liquid ammonia have been explored using a transferable intermolecular potential eight point model including fluctuating charges and flexible body based on a combination of the atom-bond electronegativity equalization and molecular (ABEEM) mechanics (ABEEM ammonia-8P) in this paper. The important feature of this model is to divide the charge sites of one ammonia molecule into eight points region containing four atoms, three σ bonds, and a lone pair, and allows the charges in system to fluctuate responding to the ambient environment. Due to the explicit descriptions of charges and special treatment of hydrogen bonds, the results of equilibrium geometries, dipole moments, cluster interaction energies, vibrational frequencies for the gas phase of small ammonia clusters, and radial distribution function for liquid ammonia calculated with the ABEEM ammonia-8P potential model are in good agreement with those measured by available experiments and those obtained from high level ab initio calculations. The properties of ammonia dimer are studied in detail involving the structure and one-dimensional, two-dimensional potential energy surface. As for interaction energies, the root mean square deviation is 0.27 kcal/mol, and the linear correlation coefficient reaches 0.994. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previous study of diatomic molecules revealed that variational second-order density matrix theory has serious problems in the dissociation limit when the N-representability is imposed at the level of the usual two-index (P,Q,G) or even three-index (T1,T2) conditions [H. Van Aggelen et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 11, 5558 (2009)]. Heteronuclear molecules tend to dissociate into fractionally charged atoms. In this paper we introduce a general class of N-representability conditions, called subsystem constraints, and show that they cure the dissociation problem at little additional computational cost. As a numerical example the singlet potential energy surface of Be B+ is studied. The extension to polyatomic molecules, where more subsystem choices can be identified, is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and illustrates a way to construct multidimensional representations of reactive potential energy surfaces (PESs) by a multiconfiguration Shepard interpolation (MCSI) method based only on gradient information, that is, without using any Hessian information from electronic structure calculations. MCSI, which is called multiconfiguration molecular mechanics (MCMM) in previous articles, is a semiautomated method designed for constructing full-dimensional PESs for subsequent dynamics calculations (classical trajectories, full quantum dynamics, or variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunneling). The MCSI method is based on Shepard interpolation of Taylor series expansions of the coupling term of a 2×2 electronically diabatic Hamiltonian matrix with the diagonal elements representing nonreactive analytical PESs for reactants and products. In contrast to the previously developed method, these expansions are truncated in the present version at the first order, and, therefore, no input of electronic structure Hessians is required. The accuracy of the interpolated energies is evaluated for two test reactions, namely, the reaction OH+H2→H2O+H and the hydrogen atom abstraction from a model of α-tocopherol by methyl radical. The latter reaction involves 38 atoms and a 108-dimensional PES. The mean unsigned errors averaged over a wide range of representative nuclear configurations (corresponding to an energy range of 19.5 kcal/mol in the former case and 32 kcal/mol in the latter) are found to be within 1 kcal/mol for both reactions, based on 13 gradients in one case and 11 in the other. The gradient-based MCMM method can be applied for efficient representations of multidimensional PESs in cases where analytical electronic structure Hessians are too expensive or unavailable, and it provides new opportunities to employ high-level electronic structure calculations for dynamics at an affordable cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four potential energy surfaces are of current interest for the Ne–CO interaction. Two are high-level fully ab initio surfaces obtained a decade ago using symmetry-adapted perturbation theory and supermolecule coupled-cluster methods. The other two are very recent exchange-Coulomb (XC) model potential energy surfaces constructed by using ab initio Heitler–London interaction energies and literature long range dispersion and induction energies, followed by the determination of a small number of adjustable parameters to reproduce a selected subset of pure rotational transition frequencies for the 20Ne–12C16O van der Waals cluster. Testing of the four potential energy surfaces against a wide range of available experimental microwave, millimeter-wave, and mid-infrared Ne–CO transition frequencies indicated that the XC potential energy surfaces gave results that were generally far superior to the earlier fully ab initio surfaces. In this paper, two XC model surfaces and the two fully ab initio surfaces are tested for their abilities to reproduce experiment for a wide range of nonspectroscopic Ne–CO gas mixture properties. The properties considered here are relative integral cross sections and the angle dependence of rotational state-to-state differential cross sections, rotational relaxation rate constants for CO(v=2) in Ne–CO mixtures at T=296 K, pressure broadening of two pure rotational lines and of the rovibrational lines in the CO fundamental and first overtone transitions at 300 K, and the temperature and, where appropriate, mole fraction dependencies of the interaction second virial coefficient, the binary diffusion coefficient, the interaction viscosity, the mixture shear viscosity and thermal conductivity coefficients, and the thermal diffusion factor. The XC model potential energy surfaces give results that lie within or very nearly within the experimental uncertainties for all properties considered, while the coupled-cluster ab initio surface gives results that agree similarly well for all but one of the properties considered. When the present comparisons are combined with the ability to give accurate spectroscopic transition frequencies for the Ne–CO van der Waals complex, only the XC potential energy surfaces give results that agree well with all extant experimental data for the Ne–CO interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this third paper of the series, which started with Bailey et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 129, 184507 (2008); ibid. 129, 184508 (2008)], we continue the development of the theoretical understanding of strongly correlating liquids—those whose instantaneous potential energy and virial are more than 90% correlated in their thermal equilibrium fluctuations at constant volume. The existence of such liquids was detailed in previous work, which identified them, based on computer simulations, as a large class of liquids, including van der Waals liquids but not, e.g., hydrogen-bonded liquids. We here discuss the following: (1) the scaling properties of inverse power-law and extended inverse power-law potentials (the latter includes a linear term that “hides” the approximate scale invariance); (2) results from computer simulations of molecular models concerning out-of-equilibrium conditions; (3) ensemble dependence of the virial/potential-energy correlation coefficient; (4) connection to the Grüneisen parameter; and (5) interpretation of strong correlations in terms of the energy-bond formalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The important role of liquid water in many areas of science from chemistry, physics, biology, geology to climate research, etc., has motivated numerous theoretical studies of its structure and dynamics. The significance of quantum effects on the properties of water, however, has not yet been fully resolved. In this paper we focus on quantum dynamical effects in liquid water based on the linearized semiclassical initial value representation (LSC-IVR) with a quantum version of the simple point charge/flexible (q-SPC/fw) model [Paesani et al., J. Chem. Phys. 125, 184507 (2006)] for the potential energy function. The infrared (IR) absorption spectrum and the translational diffusion constants have been obtained from the corresponding thermal correlation functions, and the effects of intermolecular and intramolecular correlations have been studied. The LSC-IVR simulation results are compared with those predicted by the centroid molecular dynamics (CMD) approach. Although the LSC-IVR and CMD results agree well for the broadband for hindered motions in liquid water, the intramolecular bending and O–H stretching peaks predicted by the LSC-IVR are blueshifted from those given by CMD; reasons for this are discussed. We also suggest that the broadband in the IR spectrum corresponding to restricted translation and libration gives more information than the diffusion constant on the nature of quantum effects on translational and rotational motions and should thus receive more attention in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct current slice and crush velocity map imaging has been used to probe the photodissociation dynamics of nitrogen dioxide above the second dissociation limit. The paper is a companion to a previous publication [J. Chem. Phys. 128, 164318 (2008)] in which we reported results for the O(3PJ)+NO(2ΠΩ) adiabatic product channel. Here we examine the O(1D2)+NO(2ΠΩ) diabatic product channel at similar excitation energies. Using one- and two-color imaging experiments to observe the velocity distributions of state selected NO fragments and O atoms, respectively, we are able to build a detailed picture of the dissociation dynamics. We show that by combining the information obtained from velocity map imaging studies with mass-resolved resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization spectroscopy it is possible to interpret and fully assign the NO images. By recording two-color images of the O(1D2) photofragments with different polarization combinations of the pump and probe laser fields we also measure the orbital angular momentum alignment in the atomic fragment. We find that the entire O(1D2) photofragment distribution is similarly aligned with most of the population in the MJ=±1 magnetic sublevels. The similarity of the fragment polarizations is interpreted as a signature of all of the O(1D2) atoms being formed via the same avoided crossing. At the photolysis energy of 5.479 52 eV we find that the NO fragments are preferentially formed in v=1 and that the vibrationally excited fragments exhibit a bimodal rotational distribution. This is in contrast to the unimodal rotational profile of the NO fragments in v=0. We discuss these observations in terms of the calculated topology of the adiabatic potential energy surfaces and attribute the vibrational inversion and rotational bimodality of the v=1 fragments to the symmetric stretch and bending motion generated on excitation to the (2) 2B2 state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the second paper in a series of investigations on spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effects in dihydrides of third-row transition elements. The dissociation path of rhenium dihydride was explored using the multiconfiguration self-consistent-field method followed by diagonalization of SOC matrices, in which the Stevens–Basch–Krauss–Jasien–Cundari (SBKJC) basis sets were employed after adding one set of polarization functions for each atom. The most stable rhenium dihydride has a linear structure and its ground state is 6Σg+. Both C2v and Cs dissociation paths into a Re atom and a hydrogen molecule (Re(6S)+H2(1Σg+)) were explored on the potential energy curves of low-lying states. A relatively high energy barrier was obtained along the C2v path and two conical intersections were found at the H–Re–H angles of 29.8° and 96.1° along the C2v path. Since it was revealed that the geometrical deformation to Cs symmetry at the H–Re–H angle of 29.8° does not provide explicit lowering of the energy barrier for the dissociation, even after considering nonadiabatic couplings (NACs) in the neighborhood of the conical intersections, it can be concluded that the most feasible path is hopping from the lowest 6A1 state to the lowest 6B2 state at the H–Re–H angle of 96.1° followed by hopping from the lowest 6B2 state back to the lowest 6A1 state at the H–Re–H angle of 29.8°, where the latter crossing point is the highest in energy along this path. Thus, when the molecular system can reach the areas of these crossing points, the molecular system hops from one of the states to another owing to NAC or SOC effects; especially, SOC effects become important at the crossing point with C2v symmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multiscale coarse-graining (MS-CG) method, proposed by Izvekov and Voth [J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 2469 (2005); Izvekov and VothJ. Chem. Phys. 123, 134105 (2005)], is a method for determining the effective potential energy function for a coarse-grained model of a fluid using data obtained from molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of the corresponding atomically detailed model. The method has been given a rigorous statistical mechanical basis [Noid et al. J. Chem. Phys. 128, 244114 (2008); Noid et al.,J. Chem. Phys. 128, 244115 (2008)]. The coarse-grained (CG) potentials obtained using the MS-CG method are an approximate variational solution for the exact many-body potential of mean force for the coarse-grained sites. In this paper we apply this method to study the many-body potential of mean force among solutes in a simple model of a solution of Lennard-Jones particles. We use a new set of basis functions for the variational calculation that is useful when the coarse-grained potential is approximately equal to an arbitrarily complicated pairwise additive, central interaction among the sites of the coarse-grained model. For this model, pairwise additivity of the many-body potential of mean force is a very good approximation when the solute concentration is low, and it becomes less accurate for high concentrations, indicating the importance of many-body contributions to the coarse-grained potential. The best possible pairwise additive CG potential of the solute particles is found to be quite long ranged for all concentrations except those for which the mole fraction of solute is very close to unity. We discuss strategies for construction of short-ranged potentials for efficient but accurate CG MD simulation. We also discuss how the choice of basis functions for the variational calculation can be used to provide smoothing of the calculated CG potential function to overcome statistical sampling error in the atomistic simulation data used for the generation of the potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe an atomistic method for computing the viscosity of highly viscous liquids based on activated state kinetics. A basin-filling algorithm allowing the system to climb out of deep energy minima through a series of activation and relaxation is proposed and first benchmarked on the problem of adatom diffusion on a metal surface. It is then used to generate transition state pathway trajectories in the potential energy landscape of a binary Lennard-Jones system. Analysis of a sampled trajectory shows the system moves from one deep minimum to another by a process that involves high activation energy and the crossing of many local minima and saddle points. To use the trajectory data to compute the viscosity we derive a Markov Network model within the Green–Kubo formalism and show that it is capable of producing the temperature dependence in the low-viscosity regime described by molecular dynamics simulation, and in the high-viscosity regime (102–1012 Pa s) shown by experiments on fragile glass-forming liquids. We also derive a mean-field-like description involving a coarse-grained temperature-dependent activation barrier, and show it can account qualitatively for the fragile behavior. From the standpoint of molecular studies of transport phenomena this work provides access to long relaxation time processes beyond the reach of current molecular dynamics capabilities. In a companion paper we report a similar study of silica, a representative strong liquid. A comparison of the two systems gives insight into the fundamental difference between strong and fragile temperature variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent experiments have shown convincing evidence for nonadiabatic energy transfer from adsorbate degrees of freedom to surface electrons during the interaction of molecules with metal surfaces. In this paper, we propose an independent-electron surface hopping algorithm for the simulation of nonadiabatic gas-surface dynamics. The transfer of energy to electron-hole pair excitations of the metal is successfully captured by hops between electronic adiabats. The algorithm is able to account for the creation of multiple electron-hole pairs in the metal due to nonadiabatic transitions. Detailed simulations of the vibrational relaxation of nitric oxide on a gold surface, employing a multistate potential energy surface fit to density functional theory calculations, confirm that our algorithm can capture the underlying physics of the inelastic scattering process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]