Combination Bands, Cyclic Molecules

There are a number of different theoretical approaches to the calculation of the band structures of polymers. These are extensions of the methods employed to calculate the electronic states of molecules, which obtain molecular orbitals from a linear combination of atomic orbitals. In this case the states in question are those of an infinitely long molecule, which is approximated by a finite length system with cyclic boundary conditions, i.e. the right-hand end of the chain is, in effect, joined to the left-hand end of the chain. This is the method used for band... 

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