GTO

Cartesian Gaussian-type orbitals (GTOs) Jfa.i.f( ( characterized by the quantum numbers a, b and c, which detail the angular shape and direction of the orbital, and the exponent a which governs the radial size . 

For both types of orbitals, the coordinates r, 0 and cji refer to the position of the electron relative to a set of axes attached to the centre on which the basis orbital is located. Although STOs have the proper cusp behaviour near the nuclei, they are used primarily for atomic- and linear-molecule calculations because the multi-centre integrals which arise in polyatomic-molecule calculations caimot efficiently be perfonned when STOs are employed. In contrast, such integrals can routinely be done when GTOs are used. This fiindamental advantage of GTOs has led to the dominance of these fimetions in molecular quantum chemistry. 

To overcome the primary weakness of GTO fimetions (i.e. their radial derivatives vanish at the nucleus whereas the derivatives of STOs are non-zero), it is coimnon to combine two, tliree, or more GTOs, with combination coefficients which are fixed and not treated as LCAO-MO parameters, into new functions called contracted GTOs or CGTOs. Typically, a series of tight, medium, and loose GTOs are multiplied by contraction coefficients and suimned to produce a CGTO, which approximates the proper cusp at the nuclear centre. 

Much effort has been devoted to developing sets of STO or GTO basis orbitals for main-group elements and the lighter transition metals. This ongoing effort is aimed at providing standard basis set libraries which ... 

Even-tempered basis sets [40] consist of GTOs in which tlie orbital exponents belonging to series of... 

STO-3G bases [4T] were employed some years ago, but have recently become less popular. These bases are constructed by least-squares fitting GTOs to STOs which have been optimized for various electronic states of the atom. Wlien tlnee GTOs are employed to fit each STO, a STO-3G basis is fonned. 

Because th e calculation of m n Iti-ceiiter in tegrals that are in evitable for ah iniiio method is very difficult and time-con sum in g. Ilyper-Chem uses Gaussian Type Orbital (GTO) for ah initio methods. In truly reflecting a atomic orbital. STO may he better than GTO. so HyperC hem uses several GTOs to construct a STO. The number of GTOs depends on the basis sets. For example, in the minimum STO-3G basis set IlyperGhem uses three GTOs to construct a STO. 

In quantum ehemistry it is quite eommon to use eombinations of more familiar and easy-to-handle "basis funetions" to approximate atomie orbitals. Two eommon types of basis funetions are the Slater type orbitals (STO s) and gaussian type orbitals (GTO s). STO s have the normalized form ... 

To understand why integrals over GTOs can be carried out when analogous STO-based integrals are much more difficult, one must only consider the orbital products (XaXc (ri) and XbXd (J l)) which arise in such integrals. For orbitals of the GTO form, such products involve exp(-tta (r-Ra) ) exp(-ac (r-Rc) ). By completing the square in the exponent, this product can be rewritten as follows ... 

Even-tempered basis sets (M. W. Schmidt and K. Ruedenberg, J. Chem. Phys. 71, 3961 (1979)) consist of GTOs in which the orbital exponents ak belonging to series of orbitals consist of geometrical progressions ak = a, where a and P characterize the particular set of GTOs. 

The values of the orbital exponents ( s or as) and the GTO-to-CGTO eontraetion eoeffieients needed to implement a partieular basis of the kind deseribed above have been tabulated in several journal artieles and in eomputer data bases (in partieular, in the data base eontained in the book Handbook of Gaussian Basis Sets A. Compendium for Ab initio Moleeular Orbital Caleulations, R. Poirer, R. Kari, and I. G. Csizmadia, Elsevier Seienee Publishing Co., Ine., New York, New York (1985)). 

The second approximation in HF calculations is due to the fact that the wave function must be described by some mathematical function, which is known exactly for only a few one-electron systems. The functions used most often are linear combinations of Gaussian-type orbitals exp(—nr ), abbreviated GTO. The wave function is formed from linear combinations of atomic orbitals or, stated more correctly, from linear combinations of basis functions. Because of this approximation, most HF calculations give a computed energy greater than the Hartree-Fock limit. The exact set of basis functions used is often specified by an abbreviation, such as STO—3G or 6—311++g. Basis sets are discussed further in Chapters 10 and 28. 

The functions put into the determinant do not need to be individual GTO functions, called Gaussian primitives. They can be a weighted sum of basis functions on the same atom or different atoms. Sums of functions on the same atom are often used to make the calculation run faster, as discussed in Chapter 10. Sums of basis functions on different atoms are used to give the orbital a particular symmetry. For example, a water molecule with symmetry will have orbitals that transform as A, A2, B, B2, which are the irreducible representations of the C2t point group. The resulting orbitals that use functions from multiple atoms are called molecular orbitals. This is done to make the calculation run much faster. Any overlap integral over orbitals of different symmetry does not need to be computed because it is zero by symmetry. 

Choosing a standard GTO basis set means that the wave function is being described by a finite number of functions. This introduces an approximation into the calculation since an infinite number of GTO functions would be needed to describe the wave function exactly. Dilferences in results due to the quality of one basis set versus another are referred to as basis set effects. In order to avoid the problem of basis set effects, some high-accuracy work is done with numeric basis sets. These basis sets describe the electron distribution without using functions with a predefined shape. A typical example of such a basis set might... 

Most calculations today are done by choosing an existing segmented GTO basis set. These basis sets are identihed by one of a number of notation schemes. These abbreviations are often used as the designator for the basis set in the input to ah initio computational chemistry programs. The following is a look at the notation for identifying some commonly available contracted GTO basis sets. 

The smallest basis sets are called minimal basis sets. The most popular minimal basis set is the STO—3G set. This notation indicates that the basis set approximates the shape of a STO orbital by using a single contraction of three GTO orbitals. One such contraction would then be used for each orbital, which is the dehnition of a minimal basis. Minimal basis sets are used for very large molecules, qualitative results, and in certain cases quantitative results. There are STO—nG basis sets for n — 2—6. Another popular minimal basis set is the MINI set described below. 

Another family of basis sets, commonly referred to as the Pople basis sets, are indicated by the notation 6—31G. This notation means that each core orbital is described by a single contraction of six GTO primitives and each valence shell orbital is described by two contractions, one with three primitives and the other with one primitive. These basis sets are very popular, particularly for organic molecules. Other Pople basis sets in this set are 3—21G, 4—31G, 4—22G, 6-21G, 6-31IG, and 7-41G. 

Likewise, a basis set can be improved by uncontracting some of the outer basis function primitives (individual GTO orbitals). This will always lower the total energy slightly. It will improve the accuracy of chemical predictions if the primitives being uncontracted are those describing the wave function in the middle of a chemical bond. The distance from the nucleus at which a basis function has the most significant effect on the wave function is the distance at which there is a peak in the radial distribution function for that GTO primitive. The formula for a normalized radial GTO primitive in atomic units is... 

Both HF and DFT calculations can be performed. Supported DFT functionals include LDA, gradient-corrected, and hybrid functionals. Spin-restricted, unrestricted, and restricted open-shell calculations can be performed. The basis functions used by Crystal are Bloch functions formed from GTO atomic basis functions. Both all-electron and core potential basis sets can be used. 

Gaussian theory (Gl, G2, G3) a method for extrapolating from ah initio results to an estimation of the exact energy Gaussian-type orbital (GTO) mathematical function for describing the wave function of an electron in an atom... 

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