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Here we present a comparative computational study of the photoionization of furan from the ground and the two lowest-lying excited electronic states. The study aims to assess the quality of the computational methods currently employed for treating bound and continuum states in photoionization. For the ionization from the ground electronic state, we show that the Dyson orbital approach combined with an accurate solution of the continuum one particle wave functions in a multicenter B-spline basis, at the density functional theory (DFT) level, provides cross sections and asymmetry parameters in excellent agreement with experimental data. On the contrary, when the Dyson orbitals approach is combined with the Coulomb and orthogonalized Coulomb treatments of the continuum, the results are qualitatively different. In excited electronic states, three electronic structure methods, TDDFT, ADC(2), and CASSCF, have been used for the computation of the Dyson orbitals, while the continuum was treated at the B-spline/DFT level. We show that photoionization observables are sensitive probes of the nature of the excited states as well as of the quality of excited state wave functions. This paves the way for applications in more complex situations such as time resolved photoionization spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermodiffusive behavior of a Lennard-Jones binary mixture has been studied by using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics. In particular, the dependence of the Soret coefficient, ST, on the temperature and composition has been investigated, exploring a wide range of temperatures from 1000 K to the condensation temperature of the mixture. In a previous paper the dependence of ST on the temperature and the composition was studied for Lennard-Jones binary mixtures presenting mixing/demixing (consolute) phase transition, and the results allowed the formulation of a very simple expression with the computed values of ST in the one phase region outside the critical region closely fitted by the function [T - Tc(x1)]-1, with Tc(x1) the demixing temperature of the mixture under study. The results of the present work show that the same expression of ST can be found for the one phase region outside the evaporation/condensation region but now with Tc representing the condensation temperature of the mixture under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics calculations have been carried out o Lennard-Jones binary mixtures with the aim to investigate the dependence of the Soret coefficient on the temperature and on the composition for systems presenting phase transitions. By an appropriate choice of the cross interaction parameter, [variant_greek_epsilon]12 (0<[variant_greek_epsilon]12

A systematic theoretical study of BeN linear chains by means of both variational (multireference configuration interaction) and perturbative (n-electron valence state perturbation theory) methodologies is reported. Extensive calculations have been performed using atomic natural orbital basis set of increasing size (3s1p, 4s2p1d, and 5s3p2d1f). The problematic task of obtaining a coherent description of the potential energy surface with approximate ab initio methods is addressed. The main difficulty met in the computation of the binding energy of long BeN chains essentially arises from the need of using, as the dissociation is approached, a variational space different from that suitable to treat the system near the equilibrium distance. To overcome this problem, two alternative approaches are presented and the computed dissociation energies are compared to the corresponding full-CI values reported in a recent work [V. Vetere et al., J. Chem. Phys. 130, 024301 (2009)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the thermodiffusive behavior of an equimolar binary mixture subject to repulsive potentials of the form (σ/r)n is investigated by using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) and the thermodiffusion (Soret) coefficient, ST, is computed in a wide range of temperatures. With the aim to contribute to the study of the dependence of the Soret coefficient on the interaction potential, the exponent n of the potential is varied from 1 to 12, that is from a pseudocoulombian to a pseudohard-sphere interaction. The steady state equation is integrated for the composition function under reasonable assumptions and it is shown that in some cases the request for it to be linear cannot be satisfied. For this reason nonlinear functions are used to fit the NEMD composition data. The simulations indicate a negligible dependence of ST on the composition (in the composition range here considered) while the dependence on the temperature is more marked. The computed values of ST as a function of the temperature are fitted with analytical functions. It is found that with n≥3 (medium and short range interaction) the model system behaves like a dilute gas mixture with the Soret coefficient varying with the temperature almost like 1/T. In the case of n=1 (long range interaction), ST has a more complex dependence on T: in particular it shows a change of sign. The analytical fitting functions, ST(T), are used in the integrated steady state equation thus obtaining the steady state composition profile and its comparison with the NEMD results indicates the grounding of the approach here proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive tests have been performed to benchmark and to compare with second-order perturbation theory based on a complete active space self-consistent field reference function (CASPT2), the recently developed n-electron valence state perturbation theory at second order (NEVPT2). Test calculations included the group fifteen diatomic molecules X[sub 2] (X=N, P, As, and Sb) and the [sup 4]S/[sup 2]D and [sup 4]S/[sup 2]P splittings for the corresponding atoms, the [sup 1]A[sub 1]–[sup 3]B[sub 1] splittings for CH[sub 2] and SiH[sub 2], and the absorption spectra of pyrrole and of Cu(Imidazole)[sub 2](SH)(SH[sub 2])[sup +], which is a model for plastocyanin. Comparisons with full configuration-interaction calculations and experimental data show that the accuracy of NEVPT2 is in most cases even better than CASPT2. Where intruder states hamper the CASPT2 calculations, NEVPT2 performs significantly better. Care is needed in the choice of active orbitals, for example in the calculation of the [sup 4]S/[sup 2]D and [sup 4]S/[sup 2]P splittings for the group fifteen atoms. This is due to the different treatment of orbitals belonging to the inactive or active spaces, making the NEVPT2 not invariant for the choice of active space, even in cases where the multiconfiguration self-consistent field energy is invariant. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report second-order n-electron valence state perturbation theory excited state calculations on the low-lying transitions of the [Ru(4,4′-COOH-2,2′-bpy)2(NCS)2] complex, better known as the N3 dye, both in vacuo and water solution. The present results provide unprecedented insights into the crucial role of the solvation effects, previously reported at density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) level of theory, to adequately reproduce the optical absorption spectrum. We find that the NEVPT2 results in gas phase, even if slightly blueshifted, already provide a reliable description and assignation of the electronic structure and low-lying excited states of N3, whereas these are achieved in a DFT/TDDFT approach only by means of the solvent, which properly polarizes the ground-state frontier molecular orbitals. Then, inclusion of the solvent at the NEVPT2 level does not substantially modify the ground-state electronic structure as well as the excited states picture found in vacuo, solely yielding the expected spectral blueshift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new proposed second order Multireference Perturbation Theory (MRPT) approach (termed NEVPT2(av)), based upon the use of state-averaged canonical molecular orbitals instead of the state-specific canonical ones, is applied to the study of a model Mixed-Valence compound. Such strategy has already been shown, on the basis of some preliminary calculations reported in a previous paper, to be able to overcome the inadequacy of a standard second order MRPT treatment for such MV systems. In order to test the validity and the firmness of the NEVPT2(av) methodology, an investigation is carried out, using basis sets of various size and two different active spaces. The reliability of the method is fully confirmed by the good agreement achieved with the results of highly-correlated Multireference Configuration Interaction (MRCI) computations recently published. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We extend the Charge-Displacement (CD) analysis, already successfully employed to describe the nature of intermolecular interactions [L. Belpassi et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 13046 (2010)] and various types of controversial chemical bonds [L. Belpassi et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130, 1048 (2008); N. Salvi et al., Chem. Eur. J. 16, 7231 (2010)], to study the charge fluxes accompanying electron excitations, and in particular the all-important charge-transfer (CT) phenomena. We demonstrate the usefulness of the new approach through applications to exemplary excitations in a series of molecules, encompassing various typical situations from valence, to Rydberg, to CT excitations. The CD functions defined along various spatial directions provide a detailed and insightful quantitative picture of the electron displacements taking place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the problem of the calculation of the electronic structure of mixed-valence compounds is addressed in the frame of multireference perturbation theory (MRPT). Using a simple mixed-valence compound (the 5,5′ (4H,4H′)-spirobi[ciclopenta[c]pyrrole] 2,2′,6,6′ tetrahydro cation), and the n-electron valence state perturbation theory (NEVPT2) and CASPT2 approaches, it is shown that the ground state (GS) energy curve presents an unphysical “well” for nuclear coordinates close to the symmetric case, where a maximum is expected. For NEVPT, the correct shape of the energy curve is retrieved by applying the MPRT at the (computationally expensive) third order. This behavior is rationalized using a simple model (the ionized GS of two weakly interacting identical systems, each neutral system being described by two electrons in two orbitals), showing that the unphysical well is due to the canonical orbital energies which at the symmetric (delocalized) conformation lead to a sudden modification of the denominators in the perturbation expansion. In this model, the bias introduced in the second order correction to the energy is almost entirely removed going to the third order. With the results of the model in mind, one can predict that all MRPT methods in which the zero order Hamiltonian is based on canonical orbital energies are prone to present unreasonable energy profiles close to the symmetric situation. However, the model allows a strategy to be devised which can give a correct behavior even at the second order, by simply averaging the orbital energies of the two charge-localized electronic states. Such a strategy is adopted in a NEVPT2 scheme obtaining a good agreement with the third order results based on the canonical orbital energies. The answer to the question reported in the title (is this theoretical approach a reliable tool for a correct description of these systems?) is therefore positive, but care must be exercised, either in defining the orbital energies or by resorting to the third order using for them the standard definition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A perturbation theory‐based algorithm for the iterative orbital update in complete active space self‐consistent‐field (CASSCF) calculations is presented. Following Angeli et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 2002, 117, 10525), the first‐order contribution of singly excited configurations to the CASSCF wave function is evaluated using the Dyall Hamiltonian for the determination of a zeroth‐order Hamiltonian. These authors employ an iterative diagonalization of the first‐order density matrix including the first‐order correction arising from single excitations, whereas the present approach uses the single‐excitation amplitudes directly for the construction of the exponential of an anti‐Hermitian matrix resulting in a unitary matrix which can be used for the orbital update. At convergence, the single‐excitation amplitudes vanish as a consequence of the generalized Brillouin's theorem. It is shown that this approach in combination with direct inversion of the iterative subspace (DIIS) leads to very rapid convergence of the CASSCF iteration procedure. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. A perturbation theory‐based algorithm for the iterative orbital update in complete active space self‐consistent‐field (CASSCF) calculations is presented. It is based on single‐excitation amplitudes obtained from a perturbative configuration interaction calculation using the Dyall Hamiltonian as a zeroth‐order Hamiltonian. These amplitudes are used for the construction of the exponential of an anti‐Hermitian matrix which can be used for the orbital update. Combined with DIIS, this approach leads to rapid convergence of the CASSCF iteration procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A computational strategy is presented to describe excited states, involving the transfer of an electron from one metallic site to a neighboring metal center, the so-called metal-to-metal charge-transfer (MMCT) states. An accurate ab initio treatment of these states in transition metal compounds is intrinsically difficult for both time-dependent density functional and wave function-based methods. The rather large dependence of the MMCT energies on the applied functional makes difficult to extract reliable estimates from density functional theory, while the standard multiconfigurational approach (complete active space SCF + second-order perturbation theory) leads to severe intruder state problems and unrealistic, negative energies. The analysis of the failure of the multiconfigurational approach shows that the state-average orbitals are biased toward the ground state and strongly deficient to describe the MMCT state. We propose a method to improve the orbitals by gradually approaching as much as possible the state-specific description of the MMCT state in the reference wave function for the second-order perturbation treatment of the dynamic electron correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A CAS-SCF algorithm based on molecular orbitals that conserve their physical character during the iterative process has been developed. The method is based on the iterative partial diagonalization of the one-body density matrix, obtained from a Configuration Interaction restricted to the space of single excitations from the CAS. When localized guess orbitals are used, the locality property is conserved for the final orbitals. This localization technique is particularly suitable for the treatment of quasi-degenerated systems, since it can be applied to those cases that cannot be correctly described at SCF level. For large systems, the use of localized active orbitals leads to a huge reduction of the computational effort, and permits MR-CI treatments that would be out of the possibilities of the standard delocalized approaches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The intersection of quantum chemistry and quantum computing has led to significant advancements in understanding the potential of using quantum devices for the efficient calculation of molecular energies. Simultaneously, this intersection enhances the comprehension of quantum chemical properties through the use of quantum computing and quantum information tools. This paper tackles a key question in this relationship: Is the nature of the orbital-wise electron correlations in wavefunctions of realistic prototypical cases classical or quantum? We address this question with a detailed investigation of molecular wavefunctions in terms of Shannon and von Neumann entropies, common tools of classical and quantum information theory. Our analysis reveals a notable distinction between classical and quantum mutual information in molecular systems when analyzed with Hartree-Fock canonical orbitals. However, this difference decreases dramatically, by ∼100-fold, when natural orbitals are used as reference. This finding suggests that orbital correlations, when viewed through the appropriate basis, are predominantly classical. Consequently, our study underscores the importance of using natural orbitals to accurately assess molecular orbital correlations and to avoid their overestimation., (© 2024 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

The use of the mutual information (MI) as a measure of the entanglement in quantum systems has gained a consensus in recent years, even if there is an ongoing effort to distinguish the classical and quantum contributions contained therein. This quantity has been first introduced in condensed matter physics, in particular, in studies based on the density matrix renormalization group method. This method has been successfully adapted to quantum chemistry problems, opening the way to compute MI also in molecular systems. A key aspect of this quantity is its dependence on the one-electron (orbital) basis set, even for wave functions that are invariant under unitary transformation of the orbitals. In this work, we investigate the role of the orbital basis set (delocalized or localized, following different strategies) for wave functions expressed as linear combinations of Slater determinants and we give the analytic expression for the MI for a few special cases. This study aims to improve the knowledge of the relationship between the characteristics of the chemical bond (considering a few paradigmatic molecules, H 2 , F 2 , N 2 , and short linear polyenes) and the properties of interest in the field of quantum information theory.

Hardware-efficient empirical variational ansätze for Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) simulations of quantum chemistry often lack a direct connection to classical quantum chemistry methods. In this work, we propose a method to bridge this gap by introducing a novel approach to constructing a starting point for variational quantum circuits, leveraging quantum mutual information from classical quantum chemistry states to design simple yet effective heuristic ansätze with a topology reflecting the molecular system's correlations. As a first step, we make use of quantum chemistry calculations, such as Mo̷ller-Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory, to initially provide approximate Natural Orbitals, which have been shown to be the best candidate one-electron basis for developing compact empirical wave functions. 1 Second, we evaluate the quantum mutual information matrix, which provides insights about the main correlations between qubits of the quantum circuit, and enables a direct design of entangling blocks for the circuit. The resulting ansatz is then used with a VQE to obtain a short-depth variational ground state of the electronic Hamiltonian. To validate our approach, we perform a comprehensive statistical analysis through simulations of various molecular systems ( H 2 , LiH , H 2 O ) and apply it to the more complex NH 3 molecule. The reported results demonstrate that the proposed methodology gives rise to highly effective ansätze, outperforming the standard empirical ladder-entangler ansatz. Overall, our approach can be used as an effective state preparation, providing a promising route for designing efficient variational quantum circuits for large molecular systems.

The electric polarizability and the spread of the total position tensors are used to characterize the metallic vs insulator nature of large (finite) systems. Finite clusters are usually treated within the open boundary condition formalism. This introduces border effects, which prevent a fast convergence to the thermodynamic limit and can be eliminated within the formalism of periodic boundary conditions. Recently, we introduced an original approach to periodic boundary conditions, named Clifford boundary conditions. It considers a finite fragment extracted from a periodic system and the modification of its topology into that of a Clifford torus. The quantity representing the position is modified in order to fulfill the system periodicity. In this work, we apply the formalism of Clifford boundary conditions to the case of carbon nanotubes, whose treatment results in a particularly simple zigzag geometry. Indeed, we demonstrate that at the Hückel level, these nanotubes, either finite or periodic, are formally equivalent to a collection of non-interacting dimerized linear chains, thus simplifying their treatment. This equivalence is used to describe some nanotube properties as the sum of the contributions of the independent chains and to identify the origin of peculiar behaviors (such as conductivity). Indeed, if the number of hexagons along the circumference is a multiple of three, a metallic behavior is found, namely a divergence of both the (per electron) polarizability and total position spread of at least one linear chain. These results are in agreement with those in the literature from tight-binding calculations., (© 2023 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

The localization spread gives a criterion to decide between metallic and insulating behavior of a material. It is defined as the second moment cumulant of the many-body position operator, divided by the number of electrons. Different operators are used for systems treated with open or periodic boundary conditions. In particular, in the case of periodic systems, we use the complex position definition, which was already used in similar contexts for the treatment of both classical and quantum situations. In this study, we show that the localization spread evaluated on a finite ring system of radius R with open boundary conditions leads, in the large R limit, to the same formula derived by Resta and co-workers [C. Sgiarovello, M. Peressi, and R. Resta, Phys. Rev. B 64, 115202 (2001)] for 1D systems with periodic Born-von Kármán boundary conditions. A second formula, alternative to Resta's, is also given based on the sum-over-state formalism, allowing for an interesting generalization to polarizability and other similar quantities.

In this Article we describe the OpenMolcas environment and invite the computational chemistry community to collaborate. The open-source project already includes a large number of new developments realized during the transition from the commercial MOLCAS product to the open-source platform. The paper initially describes the technical details of the new software development platform. This is followed by brief presentations of many new methods, implementations, and features of the OpenMolcas program suite. These developments include novel wave function methods such as stochastic complete active space self-consistent field, density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) methods, and hybrid multiconfigurational wave function and density functional theory models. Some of these implementations include an array of additional options and functionalities. The paper proceeds and describes developments related to explorations of potential energy surfaces. Here we present methods for the optimization of conical intersections, the simulation of adiabatic and nonadiabatic molecular dynamics, and interfaces to tools for semiclassical and quantum mechanical nuclear dynamics. Furthermore, the Article describes features unique to simulations of spectroscopic and magnetic phenomena such as the exact semiclassical description of the interaction between light and matter, various X-ray processes, magnetic circular dichroism, and properties. Finally, the paper describes a number of built-in and add-on features to support the OpenMolcas platform with postcalculation analysis and visualization, a multiscale simulation option using frozen-density embedding theory, and new electronic and muonic basis sets.

The present work describes a new method to compute accurate spin densities for open shell systems. The proposed approach follows two steps: first, it provides molecular orbitals which correctly take into account the spin delocalization; second, a proper CI treatment allows to account for the spin polarization effect while keeping a restricted formalism and avoiding spin contamination. The main idea of the optimization procedure is based on the orbital relaxation of the various charge transfer determinants responsible for the spin delocalization. The algorithm is tested and compared to other existing methods on a series of organic and inorganic open shell systems. The results reported here show that the new approach (almost black-box) provides accurate spin densities at a reasonable computational cost making it suitable for a systematic study of open shell systems.

Highly correlated calculations are performed on the primary ionic states and the prominent satellite present in the outer valence photoelectron spectrum of carbon monosulfide (CS). Dyson orbitals are coupled to accurate one particle continuum orbitals to provide a correlated description of energy dependent cross sections, asymmetry parameters, branching ratios, and molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions. The comparison with results obtained at the Hartree-Fock and Density Functional Theory level shows the strong sensitivity of these observables to details of the correlation in the bound states. The behaviour of the well characterized satellite state is analyzed in detail, and shows differences from the relevant primary states, revealing the limitations of a simple intensity borrowing mechanism. The results resolve the intensity disagreement with experiment obtained at the level of the sudden approximation.

Dalton is a powerful general-purpose program system for the study of molecular electronic structure at the Hartree-Fock, Kohn-Sham, multiconfigurational self-consistent-field, Møller-Plesset, configuration-interaction, and coupled-cluster levels of theory. Apart from the total energy, a wide variety of molecular properties may be calculated using these electronic-structure models. Molecular gradients and Hessians are available for geometry optimizations, molecular dynamics, and vibrational studies, whereas magnetic resonance and optical activity can be studied in a gauge-origin-invariant manner. Frequency-dependent molecular properties can be calculated using linear, quadratic, and cubic response theory. A large number of singlet and triplet perturbation operators are available for the study of one-, two-, and three-photon processes. Environmental effects may be included using various dielectric-medium and quantum-mechanics/molecular-mechanics models. Large molecules may be studied using linear-scaling and massively parallel algorithms. Dalton is distributed at no cost from http://www.daltonprogram.org for a number of UNIX platforms.

A closed analytical formula for the localization tensor of the Heitler-London and related wavefunctions of the hydrogen molecule is given. For the wavefunctions with a well defined nature, the various contributions of the analytical expressions can be interpreted in simple terms. The results are then compared with full configuration interaction calculations, showing that the main contributions to the localization tensor for the ground state wavefunction are caught by the very simple wavefunctions here considered.

The two lowest excited singlet states of all-trans-1,3,5,7-octatetraene, 2 (1)A(-)(g) and 1 (1)B(+)(u), are studied by means of high level ab initio methods computing the vertical and adiabatic excitation energies for both states and the vertical emission energy for the 1 (1)A(g)(-)←2 (1)A(-)(g) transition. The results confirm the known assignment of two energies, the 2 (1)A(-)(g) adiabatic excitation energy and the 2 (1)A(-)(g) vertical emission energy, for which well defined experimental values are available, with an excellent agreement between theory and experiment. In the experimental absorption spectrum, the maximum of the band describing the 1 (1)B(+)(u)←1 (1)A(g)(-) excitation is the first peak and it has been assigned to the (0-0) vibrational transition, but in literature it is normally compared with the theoretical vertical excitation energy. This comparison has been questioned in the past, but a conclusive demonstration of its lack of foundation has not been given. The analysis reported here, while confirming the assignment of the highest peak in the experimental spectrum to the (0-0) adiabatic transition, indicates that it cannot be used as a reference for the vertical excitation energy. The theoretical vertical excitation energies for the 2 (1)A(-)(g) and 1 (1)B(+)(u) states are found to be almost degenerate, with a value, ≃ 4.8 eV, higher than that normally accepted in the literature, 4.4 eV. The motivations which have induced in the past other authors to consider this a correct value are discussed and the origin of their feebleness are analyzed.

In magnetic coordination compounds and solids the magnetic orbitals are essentially located on metallic centers but present some delocalization tails on adjacent ligands. Mean field variational calculations optimize this mixing and validate a single band modelization of the intersite magnetic exchange. In this approach, due to the Brillouin's theorem, the ligand to metal charge transfer (LMCT) excitations play a minor role. On the other hand the extensive configuration interaction calculations show that the determinants obtained by a single excitation on the top of the LMCT configurations bring an important antiferromagnetic contribution to the magnetic coupling. Perturbative and truncated variational calculations show that contrary to the interpretation given in a previous article [C. J. Calzado et al., J. Chem. Phys. 116, 2728 (2002)] the contribution of these determinants to the magnetic coupling constant is not a second-order one. An analytic development enables one to establish that they contribute at higher order as a correlation induced increase in the LMCT components of the wave function, i.e., of the mixing between the ligand and the magnetic orbitals. This larger delocalization of the magnetic orbitals results in an increase in both the ferro- and antiferromagnetic contributions to the coupling constant.

This article addresses an analysis of the physical effects required for the correct description of the ionic pi --> pi* excited states in the frame of ab initio quantum chemistry, using the ionic V state of the ethene molecule as an example. The importance of the dynamic sigma polarization (absent in methods where the sigma skeleton is treated at a mean-field level) has been recognized by many authors in the past. In this article a new physical effect is described, i.e. the spatial contraction of the pi and pi* molecular orbitals (or of the local p atomic orbitals) originated from the reduction of the ionicity due to the dynamic sigma polarization. Such an effect is a second-order effect (it appears only as a consequence of the dynamic sigma polarization) but it cannot be ignored. Many of the difficulties found in the past in the calculation of the vertical excitation energy of the ionic states are attributed to an incomplete description of this contraction, while the few successes have been obtained when it has been fortuitously introduced by ad hoc procedures or when it is described in a brute force approach. Various strategies are proposed to allow for the spatial contraction of the p atomic orbitals. If this effect is considered at the orbital optimization step, it is shown that for the V state of ethene no Rydberg/valence mixing occurs and a simple perturbation correction (to the second order in the energy) on the pi --> pi* singly excited configuration gives stable results with respect to the computational parameters and in good agreement with the experimental findings and with the best theoretical calculations. Moreover, our results confirm the indication of Müller et al. (J Chem Phys 1999, 110, 7176) that the transition to the V state of ethene conforms to the Franck-Condon principle and that it is not necessary to appeal to a nonvertical transition to interpret the experimental data. The strategy reported in this article for ethene can be in principle generalized to the pi --> pi* ionic excited states of other molecules., (2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The nature of two lowest-energy states of B(u) symmetry of trans-stilbene and the accurate calculation of their vertical excitation energy have been the subject of a controversy because time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations, in agreement with experimental observations, have questioned the results obtained with multireference perturbation theory (MRPT) in the CASPT2 implementation. This paper aims to solve this controversy. By using a different version of MRPT, the n-electron valence state perturbation theory method, the description provided by TD-DFT is confirmed: the lowest B(u) singlet state has a HOMO-->LUMO nature and a large oscillator strength (HOMO refers to highest occupied molecular orbital and LUMO refers to lowest unoccupied molecular orbital), while the second B(u) singlet state has a mixed HOMO-1-->LUMO and HOMO-->LUMO+1 nature, has an oscillator strength almost vanishing, and is located at 0.6-0.7 eV higher than the first excited state. The computed vertical excitation energy to the first state (3.8-4.0 eV) is in good agreement with the experimental value.

The potential energy curves of the ground state and of some excited states of the manganese dimer have been calculated over a wide range of internuclear distances using the second order n-electron valence state perturbation theory applied to a complete active space self-consistent field reference wave function. The ground state of Mn(2), for which also the third order NEVPT has been used, is calculated to be a singlet belonging to the Sigma(g) (+) symmetry, characterized by a large equilibrium internuclear distance R(e) of 3.7-3.8 A, by a low dissociation energy D(e) of 0.07-0.08 eV, and by a small harmonic frequency omega(e) of 43 cm(-1). The experimental evidence that Mn(2) is a van der Waals molecule is thus confirmed. Among the excited states, (11)Pi(u), which is usually indicated as the ground state by density functional theory studies, appears as a low-lying state with R(e)=2.50 A, D(e)=1.35 eV, and omega(e)=246 cm(-1).

Internally contracted state-specific multireference (MR) algorithms, either perturbative such as CASPT2 or NEVPT2, or nonperturbative such as contracted MR configuration interaction or MR coupled cluster, are computationally efficient but they may suffer from the internal contraction of the wave function in the reference space. The use of a low dimensional multistate model space only offers limited flexibility and is not always practicable. The present paper suggests a convenient state-specific procedure to decontract the reference part of the wave function from a series of state-specific calculations using slightly perturbed zero-order wave functions. The method provides an orthogonal valence bond reading of the ground state and an effective valence Hamiltonian, the excited roots of which are shown to be relevant. The orthogonal valence bond functions can be considered quasidiabatic states and the effective valence Hamiltonian gives therefore the quasidiabatic energies and the electronic coupling among the quasidiabatic states. The efficiency of the method is illustrated in two case problems where the dynamical correlation plays a crucial role, namely, the LiF neutral/ionic avoided crossing and the F(2) ground state wave function.

A formulation of the n-electron valence state perturbation theory (NEVPT) at the third order of perturbation is presented. The present implementation concerns the so-called strongly contracted variant of NEVPT, where only a subspace of the first-order interacting space is taken into account. The resulting strongly contracted NEVPT3 approach is discussed in three test cases: (a) the energy difference between the 3B1 and 1A1 states of the methylene molecule, (b) the potential-energy curve of the N2 molecule ground state, and (c) the chromium dimer (Cr2) ground-state potential-energy profile. Particular attention is devoted to the last case where large basis sets comprising also h orbitals are adopted and where remarkable differences between the second- and third-order results show up.

The application of the recently developed second-order n-electron valence state perturbation theory (NEVPT2) to small carbonyl molecules (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetone) is presented. The adiabatic transition energies are computed for the singlet and triplet n-->pi(*), pi-->pi(*), and sigma-->pi(*) states performing a full geometry optimization of the relevant states at the single state CASSCF level and taking into account the zero point energy correction in the harmonic approximation. The agreement with the known experimental values and with previously published high level calculations confirms that NEVPT2 is an efficient tool to be used for the interpretation of molecular electronic spectra. Moreover, different insight into the nature of the excited states has been obtained. Some of the transitions presented here have never been theoretically computed previously [(3)(pi-->pi(*)) and (3)(sigma-->pi(*)) adiabatic transitions in acetaldehyde and acetone] or have been studied only using moderate level (single reference based) ab initio methods (all adiabatic transitions in acetaldehyde). In the present work a consistent disagreement between NEVPT2 and experiment has been found for the (3)(pi-->pi(*)) adiabatic transition in all molecules: this result is attributed to the low intensity of the transition to the first vibrational levels of the excited state. The n-->pi(*) singlet and triplet vertical transition energies are also reported for all the molecules.

The n-electron valence state perturbation theory (NEVPT) is reformulated in a quasidegenerate (QD) approach. The new theory allows the treatment of cases where the proximity of the energies causes artifacts in the zero order description. Problems of quasidegeneration are relevant in the dynamics involving regions at avoided crossings (or conical intersections) and in spectroscopy where the energies and oscillator strengths can be strongly influenced by the mixing of states of different nature. Two test cases are analyzed concerning (a) the ionic-neutral avoided crossing in LiF and (b) the valence/Rydberg mixing in the excited states of ethene. The QD-NEVPT2 is shown to be a useful tool for such systems., ((c) 2004 American Institute of Physics)