Semi-empirical equations

As the name implies, semi-empirical calculations simplify the computational problem presented by the Schrodinger equation. Semi-empirical approaches eliminate some of the direct number crunching involved in ab initio calculations and instead replace portions of the calculation with values that may be taken from experimental data or other calculations that are parameterized to agree with empirical data. There is a variety of semi-empirical schemes that differ in the types of parameterizations that are made. Three common semi-empirical methods that are included in Spartan02 are called AMI, PM3, and MNDO. Each has strengths and weaknesses depending on the specific molecular environment one wishes to model. 

Real gases follow the ideal-gas equation (A2.1.17) only in the limit of zero pressure, so it is important to be able to handle the tliemiodynamics of real gases at non-zero pressures. There are many semi-empirical equations with parameters that purport to represent the physical interactions between gas molecules, the simplest of which is the van der Waals equation (A2.1.50). However, a completely general fonn for expressing gas non-ideality is the series expansion first suggested by Kamerlingh Onnes (1901) and known as the virial equation of state ... 

For small molecules, the accuracy of solutions to the Schrtidinger equation competes with the accuracy of experimental results. However, these accurate a i initw calculations require enormous com putation an d are on ly suitable for the molecular system s with small or medium size. Ah initio calculations for very large molecules are beyond the realm of current computers, so HyperChern also supports sern i-em p irical quantum meclian ics m eth ods. Sem i-em pirical approximate solutions are appropriate and allow extensive cliem ical exploration, Th e in accuracy of the approxirn ation s made in semi-empirical methods is offset to a degree by recourse to experimental data in defining the parameters of the method. 

In ub initio calculations all elements of the Fock matrix are calculated using Equation (2.226), ii re peifive of whether the basis functions ip, cp, formally bonded. To discuss the semi-empirical melh ids it is useful to consider the Fock matrix elements in three groups (the diagonal... 

As with the other semi-empirical methods that we have considered so far, the overlap niJtrix is equal to the identity matrix. The following simple matrix equation must then be solved ... 

This equation is important in interpreting the results of calculations. In ab initio and semi-empirical calculations, atomic orbitals are functions of the x, y, and z coordinates of the electron that closely resemble the valence orbitals of the isolated atoms. 

These atomic orbitals, called Slater Type Orbitals (STOs), are a simplification of exact solutions of the Schrodinger equation for the hydrogen atom (or any one-electron atom, such as Li" ). Hyper-Chem uses Slater atomic orbitals to construct semi-empirical molecular orbitals. The complete set of Slater atomic orbitals is called the basis set. Core orbitals are assumed to be chemically inactive and are not treated explicitly. Core orbitals and the atomic nucleus form the atomic core. 

HyperChem s semi-empirical calculations solve (approximately) the Schrodinger equation for this electronic Hamiltonian leading to an electronic wave function I eiecW for the electrons ... 

HyperChem s ab initio calculations solve the Roothaan equations (59) on page 225 without any further approximation apart from the use of a specific finite basis set. Therefore, ab initio calculations are generally more accurate than semi-empirical calculations. They certainly involve a more fundamental approach to solving the Schrodinger equation than do semi-empirical methods. 

In HyperChem, equation (226) is used for calculating the integrated infrared band intensities for the ab initio method and equation (228) is employed for all the semi-empirical methods. All IR lines correspond to transitions from the ground vibrational state to an excited vibrational state that has one additional quantum deposited in a given vibrational mode. 

Inspection of Fig. 3.9 suggests that for polyisobutylene at 25°C, Ti is about lO hr. Use Eq. (3.101) to estimate the viscosity of this polymer, remembering that M = 1.56 X 10. As a check on the value obtained, use the Debye viscosity equation, as modified here, to evaluate M., the threshold for entanglements, if it is known that f = 4.47 X 10 kg sec at this temperature. Both the Debye theory and the Rouse theory assume the absence of entanglements. As a semi-empirical correction, multiply f by (M/M. ) to account for entanglements. Since the Debye equation predicts a first-power dependence of r) on M, inclusion of this factor brings the total dependence of 77 on M to the 3.4 power as observed. 

A guide to tire stabilities of inter-metallic compounds can be obtained from the semi-empirical model of Miedema et al. (loc. cit.), in which the heat of interaction between two elements is determined by a contribution arising from the difference in work functions, A0, of tire elements, which leads to an exothermic contribution, and tire difference in the electron concentration at tire periphery of the atoms, A w, which leads to an endothermic contribution. The latter term is referred to in metal physics as the concentration of electrons at the periphery of the Wigner-Seitz cell which contains the nucleus and elecUonic structure of each metal atom within the atomic volume in the metallic state. This term is also closely related to tire bulk modulus of each element. The work function difference is very similar to the electronegativity difference. The equation which is used in tire Miedema treatment to... 

The following semi-empirical equation relates the (hindered) settling velocity of a slurry of particles to the settling velocity of a single particle, known as the Richardson and Zaki (1954) (RZ) equation. The RZ equation is also used for liquid fluidization whereby particles are supported by an up-flow of fluid. 

Semi-empirical methods, such as AMI, MINDO/3 and PM3, implemented in programs like MOPAC, AMPAC, HyperChem, and Gaussian, use parameters derived from experimental data to simplify the computation. They solve an approximate form of the Schrodinger equation that depends on having appropriate parameters available for the type of chemical system under investigation. Different semi-emipirical methods are largely characterized by their differing parameter sets. 

Semi-empirical methods are characterized by their use of parameters derived from experimental data in order to simplify the approximation to the Schrbdinger equation. As such, they are relatively inexpensive and can be practically applied to very, very large molecules. There are a variety of semi-empirical methods. Among the best known are AMI, PM3 and MNDO. Gaussian includes a variety of semi-empirical models, and they are also the central focus or present in many other programs including AMPAC, MOPAC, HyperChem and Spartan. 

And yet in spite of these remarkable successes such an ab initio approach may still be considered to be semi-empirical in a rather specific sense. In order to obtain calculated points shown in the diagram the Schrodinger equation must be solved separately for each of the 53 atoms concerned in this study. The approach therefore represents a form of "empirical mathematics" where one calculates 53 individual Schrodinger equations in order to reproduce the well known pattern in the periodicities of ionization energies. It is as if one had performed 53 individual experiments, although the experiments in this case are all iterative mathematical computations. This is still therefore not a general solution to the problem of the electronic structure of atoms. 

E6.8 A semi-empirical equation proposed by Margules expresses the vapor... 

A method of calculating D in a binary mixture of gases is given later (equation 10.43). For liquids, the molecular structure is far more complex and no such simple relationship exisls, although various semi-empirical predictive methods, such as equation 10.96, are useful. 

Exercise 1.3. Using the equations introduced in the last problems, generate a potential surface for the H2 molecule assuming that a = —13.6 eV, /3 = —9.5 exp[-/ ] eV (with R in A), D = 0.3 A, and a = 1. Consider only the first iteration with PH = 1 and Z = 1. Adjust the value of /3n to see how it affects the value of the bond energy (the value of E at its minimum). Such a procedure will clarify the point that /3n (as well as the other parameters) are chosen semi-empirically to give the best potential surface for our molecule. 

Having obtained the value of the limiting viscosity number, we can calculate relative molar mass using the semi-empirical equation ... 

The applicability of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation for complex molecular systems is basic to all classical simulation methods. It enables the formulation of an effective potential field for nuclei on the basis of the SchrdJdinger equation. In practice this is not simple, since the number of electrons is usually large and the extent of configuration space is too vast to allow accurate initio determination of the effective fields. One has to resort to simplifications and semi-empirical or empirical adjustments of potential fields, thus introducing interdependence of parameters that tend to obscure the pure significance of each term. This applies in... 

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