Adiabatic approximation background

Use of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation is implicit for any many-body problem involving electrons and nuclei as it allows us to separate electronic and nuclear coordinates in many-body wave function. Because of the large difference between electronic and ionic masses, the nuclei can be treated as an adiabatic background for instantaneous motion of electrons. So with this adiabatic approximation the many-body problem is reduced to the solution of the dynamics of the electrons in some frozen-in configuration of the nuclei. However, the total energy calculations are still impossible without making further simplifications and approximations. 

II electronic states, 634-640 theoretical background, 625-626 triatomic molecules, 611-615 pragmatic models, 620-621 Ab initio multiple spawning (AIMS) conical intersection location, 491-492 direct molecular dynamics, 411-414 theoretical background, 360-361 Adiabatic approximation geometric phase theory ... 

Kutzelnigg, W. The adiabatic approximation 1. The physical background of the Born-Handy ansatz. Mol. Phys. 1997, 90,909-16. 

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