Electronic coordinates

Figure Al.3.1. Atomic and electronic coordinates. The electrons are illustrated by filled circles the nuclei by open circles.

Equation (Bl.1,1) for the transition moment integral is rather simply interpreted in the case of an atom. The wavefiinctions are simply fiinctions of the electron positions relative to the nucleus, and the integration is over the electronic coordinates. The situation for molecules is more complicated and deserves discussion in some detail. 

In this section we concentrate on the electronic and vibrational parts of the wavefimctions. It is convenient to treat the nuclear configuration in temis of nomial coordinates describing the displacements from the equilibrium position. We call these nuclear nomial coordinates Q- and use the symbol Q without a subscript to designate the whole set. Similarly, the symbol v. designates the coordinates of the th electron and v the whole set of electronic coordinates. We also use subscripts 1 and ii to designate the lower and upper electronic states of a transition, and subscripts a and b to number the vibrational states in the respective electronic states. The total wavefiinction f can be written... 

Here each < ) (0 is a vibrational wavefiinction, a fiinction of the nuclear coordinates Q, in first approximation usually a product of hamionic oscillator wavefimctions for the various nomial coordinates. Each j (x,Q) is the electronic wavefimctioii describing how the electrons are distributed in the molecule. However, it has the nuclear coordinates within it as parameters because the electrons are always distributed around the nuclei and follow those nuclei whatever their position during a vibration. The integration of equation (Bl.1.1) can be carried out in two steps—first an integration over the electronic coordinates v, and then integration over the nuclear coordinates 0. We define an electronic transition moment integral which is a fimctioii of nuclear position ... 

When spectroscopists speak of electronic selection niles, they generally mean consideration of the integral over only the electronic coordinates for wavefiinctions calculated at the equilibrium nuclear configuration of the initial state, 2 = 0,... 

This method, introduced originally in an analysis of nuclear resonance reactions, has been extensively developed [H, 16 and F7] over the past 20 years as a powerful ab initio calculational tool. It partitions configuration space into two regions by a sphere of radius r = a, where r is the scattered electron coordinate. 

Flere we distinguish between nuclear coordinates R and electronic coordinates r is the single-particle kinetic energy operator, and Vp is the total pseudopotential operator for the interaction between the valence electrons and the combined nucleus + frozen core electrons. The electron-electron and micleus-micleus Coulomb interactions are easily recognized, and the remaining tenu electronic exchange and correlation... 

The discussion in the previous sections assumed that the electron dynamics is adiabatic, i.e. the electronic wavefiinction follows the nuclear dynamics and at every nuclear configuration only the lowest energy (or more generally, for excited states, a single) electronic wavefiinction is relevant. This is the Bom-Oppenlieimer approxunation which allows the separation of nuclear and electronic coordinates in the Schrodinger equation. 

The electronic energy W in the Bom-Oppenlieimer approxunation can be written as W= fV(q, p), where q is the vector of nuclear coordinates and the vector p contains the parameters of the electronic wavefimction. The latter are usually orbital coefficients, configuration amplitudes and occasionally nonlinear basis fiinction parameters, e.g., atomic orbital positions and exponents. The electronic coordinates have been integrated out and do not appear in W. Optimizing the electronic parameters leaves a function depending on the nuclear coordinates only, E = (q). We will assume that both W q, p) and (q) and their first derivatives are continuous fimctions of the variables q- and py... 

Suppose that x [Q)) is the adiabatic eigenstate of the Hamiltonian H[q]Q), dependent on internal variables q (the electronic coordinates in molecular contexts), and parameterized by external coordinates Q (the nuclear coordinates). Since x Q)) must satisfy... 

Multiplying by ( y and integrating over electronic coordinates yields... 

So far, we have treated the case n = /lo, which was termed the adiabatic representation. We will now consider the diabatic case where n is still a variable but o is constant as defined in Eq. (B.3). By multiplying Eq. (B.7) by j e I o) I arid integrating over the electronic coordinates, we get... 

One starts with the Hamiltonian for a molecule H r, R) written out in terms of the electronic coordinates (r) and the nuclear displacement coordinates (R, this being a vector whose dimensionality is three times the number of nuclei) and containing the interaction potential V(r, R). Then, following the BO scheme, one can write the combined wave function [ (r, R) as a sum of an infinite number of terms... 

The symbol M represents the masses of the nuclei in the molecule, which for simplicity are taken to be equal. The symbol is the Kionecker delta. The tensor notation is used in this section and the summation convention is assumed for all repeated indexes not placed in parentheses. In Eq. (91) the NACT appears (this being a matrix in the electronic Hilbert space, whose components are denoted by labels k, m, and a vector with respect to the b component of the nuclear coordinate R). It is given by an integral over the electron coordinates... 

This makes it desirable to define other representations in addition to the electronically adiabatic one [Eqs. (9)-(12)], in which the adiabatic electronic wave function basis set used in the Bom-Huang expansion (12) is replaced by another basis set of functions of the electronic coordinates. Such a different electronic basis set can be chosen so as to minimize the above mentioned gradient term. This term can initially be neglected in the solution of the / -electionic-state nuclear motion Schrodinger equation and reintroduced later using perturbative or other methods, if desired. This new basis set of electronic wave functions can also be made to depend parametrically, like their adiabatic counterparts, on the internal nuclear coordinates q that were defined after Eq. (8). This new electronic basis set is henceforth refened to as diabatic and, as is obvious, leads to an electronically diabatic representation that is not unique unlike the adiabatic one, which is unique by definition. 

Throughout, unless otherwise stated, R and r will be used to represent the nuclear and electronic coordinates, respectively. Boldface is used for vectors and matrices, thus R is the vector of nuclear coordinates with components R. The vector operator V, with components... 

Note that the last terra in expression (2) of V does not depend on electronic coordinates, and therefore it may be neglected in fifo. The adiabatic Hamiltonian still depends parametrically on R, and so is the electronic wave funcion 4>). If we expand the nuclear coordinates or some of the nuclear coordinates with respect to a given configuration, that is, if we define... 

After integrating over the electronic coordinates and x, the model Hamiltonian (15) is represented by the matrix whose elements are... 

Thus, for a particular value of the good quantum number K, the only possible values for I are /f A. The matrix representation of the model Hamiltonian in the linear basis, obtained by integrating over the electronic coordinates and is thus... 

After integrating over all electronic coordinates except for 0, the electronic operator transforms into the potential for bending vibrations has the fonn... 

Because of the quantum mechanical Uncertainty Principle, quantum m echanics methods treat electrons as indistinguishable particles, This leads to the Paiili Exclusion Pnn ciple, which states that the many-electron wave function—which depends on the coordinates of all the electrons—must change sign whenever two electrons interchange positions. That IS, the wave function must be antisymmetric with respect to pair-wise permutations of the electron coordinates. 

Projecting this equation against < hj (r R) (integrating only over the electronic coordinates because the hj are orthonormal only when so integrated) gives ... 

First we integrate over electron coordinates t, giving... 

For example, in Ni(CO) nickel metal having 28 electrons coordinates four CO molecules to achieve a total of 36 electrons, the configuration of the inert gas krypton. Nearly every metal forming a carbonyl obeys the 18-electron rule. An exception is vanadium, forming a hexacarbonyl in which the number of electrons is 35. This carbonyl, which has a paramagnetism equivalent to one unpaired electron, however, readily adds one electron to form a closed valence shell complex containing the V(CO)(, anion. 

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