Ab initio calculations potential

In this section we discuss model potentials for small metal clusters with parameters fitted to ab initio calculated potential surfaces. We named such potentials as ab initio model potentials This approach was first elaborated by Clementi and coworkers and used for the Monte-Carlo simulation of biological systems in liquid water... 

Figure 17. Potentials for He (235) + He derived from data of Fig. 16. Dashed lines are derived from analysis of spin-exchange experiments, whereas points are taken from an ab initio calculation. Potentials are tabulated in Table IV.

In some cases (see van der Avoird et al., 1980, and references therein) atom-atom potentials, which are subsequently used to calculate crystal properties, have been obtained from an independent source, viz., from ab initio quantum-chemical calculations. The individual terms in an atom-atom potential of the form in Eq. (3), for example, are then fitted to the corresponding interaction energy contributions calculated for a more or less extensive set of geometries of a molecular pair. It appears that the Buckingham form (in Eq. 3) especially can yield a reasonably accurate representation of an ab initio calculated potential, provided that the individual terms are given different force centers (sites) whose positions are shifted away from the atomic nuclei and optimized in fitting the ab initio data. 

FIGURE 4. Course of the overall PGL reaction of Ref. 68. Upper time development, from ps laser photolysis of HI to hot atom attack forming the collision complex which dissociates to CO + OH (detected by the ps probe laser, delayed by time t). Lower schematic of the minimum energy path from an ab initio calculated potential energy surface [69]. Here T.S. stands for transition state this barrier is dependent upon the "angle of attack" of the H on the OCO. [Adapted from Ref. 68]. 

Figure Al.5.1 Potential energy curve for NeF based on ab initio calculations of Archibong et al...

There are many large molecules whose mteractions we have little hope of detemiining in detail. In these cases we turn to models based on simple mathematical representations of the interaction potential with empirically detemiined parameters. Even for smaller molecules where a detailed interaction potential has been obtained by an ab initio calculation or by a numerical inversion of experimental data, it is usefid to fit the calculated points to a functional fomi which then serves as a computationally inexpensive interpolation and extrapolation tool for use in fiirtlier work such as molecular simulation studies or predictive scattering computations. There are a very large number of such models in use, and only a small sample is considered here. The most frequently used simple spherical models are described in section Al.5.5.1 and some of the more common elaborate models are discussed in section A 1.5.5.2. section Al.5.5.3 and section Al.5.5.4. 

Woon D E 1994 Benchmark calculations with correlated molecular wavefunctions. 5. The determination of accurate ab initio intermolecular potentials for He2, Ne2, and A 2 J. Chem. Phys. 100 2838... 

Hu C H and Thakkar A J 1996 Potential energy surface for interactions between N2 and He ab initio calculations, analytic fits, and second virial coefficients J. Chem. Phys. 104 2541... 

Many potential energy surfaces have been proposed for the F + FI2 reaction. It is one of the first reactions for which a surface was generated by a high-level ab initio calculation including electron correlation [47]. The... 

At the time the experiments were perfomied (1984), this discrepancy between theory and experiment was attributed to quantum mechanical resonances drat led to enhanced reaction probability in the FlF(u = 3) chaimel for high impact parameter collisions. Flowever, since 1984, several new potential energy surfaces using a combination of ab initio calculations and empirical corrections were developed in which the bend potential near the barrier was found to be very flat or even non-collinear [49, M], in contrast to the Muckennan V surface. In 1988, Sato [ ] showed that classical trajectory calculations on a surface with a bent transition-state geometry produced angular distributions in which the FIF(u = 3) product was peaked at 0 = 0°, while the FIF(u = 2) product was predominantly scattered into the backward hemisphere (0 > 90°), thereby qualitatively reproducing the most important features in figure A3.7.5. 

Wei C M, Gross A and Scheffler M 1998 Ab initio calculation of the potential energy surface for the dissociation of H2 on the sulfur-covered Pd(IOO) surface Phys. Rev. B 57 15 572... 

The adiabatic picture is the standard one in quantum chemistry for the reason that, not only is it mathematically well defined, but it is also that used in ab initio calculations, which solve the electronic Hamiltonian at a particular nuclear geometry. To see the effects of vibronic coupling on the potential energy surfaces one must move to what is called a diabatic representation [1,65,180, 181]. 

Figure 4. Spin-orbit splitting in AT — 1 and 2 vibronic levels of the state of NCN. Solid lines connect the results of calculations thar employ ab initio computed potential curves [28], For comparison the results obtained by employing experimentally derived potential curves (dashed lines) [30,31] are also given. Full points represent energy differences between P — K — and P — K spin levels, and crosses are differences between P — K + I and P — K levels.

Now, we discuss briefly the situation when one or both of the adiabatic electronic states has/have nonlinear equilibrium geometry. In Figures 6 and 7 we show two characteristic examples, the state of BH2 and NH2, respectively. The BH2 potential curves are the result of ab initio calculations of the present authors [33,34], and those for NH2 are taken from [25]. 

Another subject with important potential application is discussed in Section XIV. There we suggested employing the curl equations (which any Bohr-Oppenheimer-Huang system has to obey for the for the relevant sub-Hilbert space), instead of ab initio calculations, to derive the non-adiabatic coupling terms [113,114]. Whereas these equations yield an analytic solution for any two-state system (the abelian case) they become much more elaborate due to the nonlinear terms that are unavoidable for any realistic system that contains more than two states (the non-abelian case). The solution of these equations is subject to boundary conditions that can be supplied either by ab initio calculations or perturbation theory. 

The first point to remark is that methods that are to be incorporated in MD, and thus require frequent updates, must be both accurate and efficient. It is likely that only semi-empirical and density functional (DFT) methods are suitable for embedding. Semi-empirical methods include MO (molecular orbital) [90] and valence-bond methods [89], both being dependent on suitable parametrizations that can be validated by high-level ab initio QM. The quality of DFT has improved recently by refinements of the exchange density functional to such an extent that its accuracy rivals that of the best ab initio calculations [91]. DFT is quite suitable for embedding into a classical environment [92]. Therefore DFT is expected to have the best potential for future incorporation in embedded QM/MD. 

This quantity is found to be related to the local polarization energy and is complementary to the MEP at the same point in space, making it a potentially very useful descriptor. Reported studies on local ionization potentials have been based on HF ab-initio calculations. However, they could equally well use semi-empirical methods, especially because these are parameterized to give accurate Koopmans theorem ionization potentials. 

Fig. 5.37 Comparison of the calculated phonon dispersion curve for Al with the experimental values measured using neutron diffraction. (Figure redrawn from Michin Y, D Farkas, M ] Mehl and D A Papaconstantopoulos 1999. Interatomic Potentials for Monomatomic Metals from Experimental Data and ab initio Calculations. Physical Review 359 3393-3407.)...

You can also plot the electrostatic potential, the total charge density, or the total spin density determined during a semi-empirical or ab initio calculation. This information is useful in determining reactivity and correlating calculational results with experimental data. These examples illustrate uses of these plots ... 

Choose the region (single or multiple molecules) of interest for an ab initio calculation from the total molecular system. HyperChem performs the ab initio calculation for the selected region using the perturbation of an electrostatic potential arising from the net charges on the atoms of the un selected part. (For further details of this electrostatic potential perturbation implemented in HyperChem, please see the second part of this book. Theory and Methods). 

The results of electrostatic potential calculations can be used to predict initial attack positions of protons (or other ions) during a reaction. You can use the Contour Plot dialog box to request a plot of the contour map of the electrostatic potential of a molecular system after you done a semi-empirical or ab initio calculation. By definition, the electrostatic potential is calculated using the following expression ... 

The second summation is over all the orbitals of the system. This equation is used in HyperChem ab initio calculations to generate contour plots of electrostatic potential. If we choose the approximation whereby we neglect the effects of the diatomic differential overlap (NDDO), then the electrostatic potential can be rewritten as... 

Effective core potentials (ECP) replace the atomic core electrons in valence-only ab initio calculations, and they are often used when dealing with compounds containing elements from the second row of the periodic table and above. 

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