Full-quantum dynamics method

In the full-quantum dynamics method, the distribution of nuclear positions is accounted for in nuclear wavepacket form, that is, by a function that defines the distribution of momenta of each atom and the distribution of the position in the space of each atom. In classical and semi-classical or quasi-classical dynamics methods, the wavepacket distribution is emulated by a swarm of trajectories. We now briefly discuss how sampling can generate this swarm. 

The preferable theoretical tools for the description of dynamical processes in systems of a few atoms are certainly quantum mechanical calculations. There is a large arsenal of powerful, well established methods for quantum mechanical computations of processes such as photoexcitation, photodissociation, inelastic scattering and reactive collisions for systems having, in the present state-of-the-art, up to three or four atoms, typically. " Both time-dependent and time-independent numerically exact algorithms are available for many of the processes, so in cases where potential surfaces of good accuracy are available, excellent quantitative agreement with experiment is generally obtained. In addition to the full quantum-mechanical methods, sophisticated semiclassical approximations have been developed that for many cases are essentially of near-quantitative accuracy and certainly at a level sufficient for the interpretation of most experiments.These methods also are com-... 

While the two methods are, at face value, quite different in the ways in which full quantum dynamics is reduced to quantum-classical dynamics, there are common elements in the manner in which they are simulated. The Trotter-based scheme for QCL dynamics makes use of the adiabatic basis and is based on surface-hopping trajectories where transitions are sampled by a Monte Carlo scheme that requires reweighting. Similarly, ILDM calculations make use of the mapping hamiltonian basis and also involve a similar Monte Carlo sampling with reweighting of trajectories in the ensemble used to obtain the expectation values of quantum operators. 

There has recently been an upsurge of interest in the classical approach as a complement to full quantum dynamics. In many cases, it is found that the agreement between classical and quantum results for the dissociation probability is acceptable if not perfect [55-60], This is illustrated in Fig. 7, which shows the quantum dissociation probability computed for the H2/Cu(l 0 0) system compared to classical and quasiclassical results [57]. In quasiclassical calculations, we use classical methods to... 

For larger systems, various approximate schemes have been developed, called mixed methods as they treat parts of the system using different levels of theory. Of interest to us here are quantuin-seiniclassical methods, which use full quantum mechanics to treat the electrons, but use approximations based on trajectories in a classical phase space to describe the nuclear motion. The prefix quantum may be dropped, and we will talk of seiniclassical methods. There are a number of different approaches, but here we shall concentrate on the few that are suitable for direct dynamics molecular simulations. An overview of other methods is given in the introduction of [21]. 

Full quantum wavepacket studies on large molecules are impossible. This is not only due to the scaling of the method (exponential with the number of degrees of freedom), but also due to the difficulties of obtaining accurate functions of the coupled PES, which are required as analytic functions. Direct dynamics studies of photochemical systems bypass this latter problem by calculating the PES on-the-fly as it is required, and only where it is required. This is an exciting new field, which requires a synthesis of two existing branches of theoretical chemistry—electronic structure theory (quantum chemistiy) and mixed nuclear dynamics methods (quantum-semiclassical). 

A full-scale treatment of crystal growth, however, requires methods adapted for larger scales on top of these quantum-mechanical methods, such as effective potential methods like the embedded atom method (EAM) [11] or Stillinger-Weber potentials [10] with three-body forces necessary. The potentials are obtained from quantum mechanical calculations and then used in Monte Carlo or molecular dynamics methods, to be discussed below. 

The Feynman-Hibbs and QFH potentials have been used extensively in simulations examining quantum effects in atomic and molecular fluids [12,15,25]. We note here that the centroid molecular dynamics method [54, 55] is related and is intermediate between a full path integral simulation and the Feynman-Hibbs approximation ... 

A more general description of the effects of vibronic coupling can be made using the model Hamiltonian developed by Koppel, Domcke and Cederbaum [65], The basic idea is the same as that used in Section III.C, that is to assume a quasidiabatic representation, and to develop a Hamiltonian in this picture. It is a useful model, providing a simple yet accurate analytical expression for the coupled PES manifold, and identifying the modes essential for the non-adiabatic effects. As a result it can be used for comparing how well different dynamics methods perform for non-adiabatic systems. It has, for example, been used to perform benchmark full-dimensional (24-mode) quantum dynamics calculations... 

We presented fully self-consistent separable random-phase-approximation (SRPA) method for description of linear dynamics of different finite Fermi-systems. The method is very general, physically transparent, convenient for the analysis and treatment of the results. SRPA drastically simplifies the calculations. It allows to get a high numerical accuracy with a minimal computational effort. The method is especially effective for systems with a number of particles 10 — 10, where quantum-shell effects in the spectra and responses are significant. In such systems, the familiar macroscopic methods are too rough while the full-scale microscopic methods are too expensive. SRPA seems to be here the best compromise between quality of the results and the computational effort. As the most involved methods, SRPA describes the Landau damping, one of the most important characteristics of the collective motion. SRPA results can be obtained in terms of both separate RPA states and the strength function (linear response to external fields). 

Abstract. In this chapter we discuss approaches to solving quantum dynamics in the condensed phase based on the quantum-classical Liouville method. Several representations of the quantum-classical Liouville equation (QCLE) of motion have been investigated and subsequently simulated. We discuss the benefits and limitations of these approaches. By making further approximations to the QCLE, we show that standard approaches to this problem, i.e., mean-field and surface-hopping methods, can be derived. The computation of transport coefficients, such as chemical rate constants, represent an important class of problems where the QCL method is applicable. We present a general quantum-classical expression for a time-dependent transport coefficient which incorporates the full system s initial quantum equilibrium structure. As an example of the formalism, the computation of a reaction rate coefficient for a simple reactive model is presented. These results are compared to illuminate the similarities and differences between various approaches discussed in this chapter. 

An attempt to solve the difficulties and inconsistencies arising from an approximated derivation of quantum-classical equations of motion was made some time ago [15] to restore the properties that are expected to hold within a consistent formulation of dynamics and statistical mechanics, and are instead missed by the existing approximate methods. We refer not only to the properties that the Lie brackets, which generate the dynamics, satisfy in a full quantum and full classical formulation, e.g., the bi-linearity and anti-symmetry properties, the Jacobi identity and the Leibniz rule12, but also to statistical mechanical properties, like the time translational invariance of equilibrium correlation functions [see eq.(8)]. 

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