Adiabatic constraint, defined

Since the only constraint we have placed on Qi is that it be less than 9, the second isotherm can be as arbitrarily close to the first as we wish. The conclusion that states exist on this second isotherm that cannot be reached from a point on the first isotherm by any adiabatic path is therefore general. Thus, we can argue that there are states located in the plane defined by 6 and xi that are inaccessible from state 1. 

An interesting question then arises as to why the dynamics of proton transfer for the benzophenone-i V, /V-dimethylaniline contact radical IP falls within the nonadiabatic regime while that for the napthol photoacids-carboxylic base pairs in water falls in the adiabatic regime given that both systems are intermolecular. For the benzophenone-A, A-dimethylaniline contact radical IP, the presumed structure of the complex is that of a 7t-stacked system that constrains the distance between the two heavy atoms involved in the proton transfer, C and O, to a distance of 3.3A (Scheme 2.10) [20]. Conversely, for the napthol photoacids-carboxylic base pairs no such constraints are imposed so that there can be close approach of the two heavy atoms. The distance associated with the crossover between nonadiabatic and adiabatic proton transfer has yet to be clearly defined and will be system specific. However, from model calculations, distances in excess of 2.5 A appear to lead to the realm of nonadiabatic proton transfer. Thus, a factor determining whether a bimolecular proton-transfer process falls within the adiabatic or nonadiabatic regimes lies in the rate expression Eq. (6) where 4>(R), the distribution function for molecular species with distance, and k(R), the rate constant as a function of distance, determine the mode of transfer. 

A manner to do away with the problem is to introduce appropriate algorithms in the sense that mappings from real space to Hilbert space can be defined. The generalized electronic diabatic, GED approach fulfils this constraint while the BO scheme as given by Meyer [2] does not due to an early introduction of center-of-mass coordinates and rotating frame. The standard BO takes a typical molecule as an object description. Similarly, the wave function is taken to describe the electrons and nuclei. Thus, the adiabatic picture follows. The electrons instantaneously follow the position of the nuclei. This picture requires the system to be always in the ground state. 

The locally updated planes (LUP) method also optimizes a chain of points simultaneously. For each point x, along the pathway, a hyperplane orthogonal to the path is defined. The points are then energy minimized with the constraint that each has to remain in its initial plane. The planes are periodically updated to account for the changing shape of the path. The LUP algorithm is ideally suited for refining a chain that is already near the adiabatic path. 

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