Hamiltonian matrix, diagonalizing

In order to solve the Schrodinger equation for the nuclear motions, the vibrational solutions are developed in terms of some basis functions, and the Hamiltonian matrix diagonalized, yielding the energy levels and the wave functions. As basis functions, the symmetry vectors which factorize into boxes the Hamiltonian matrix are conveniently used. 

That is, in the basis rj.F.irjjthe Hamiltonian matrix is block diagonal in Fand and we can rewrite (equation A1.4.8) as... 

The Hamiltonian matrix factorizes into blocks for basis functions having connnon values of F and rrip. This reduces the numerical work involved in diagonalizing the matrix. 

Having done this we solve the Scln-ddinger equation for the molecule by diagonalizing the Hamiltonian matrix in a complete set of known basis fiinctions. We choose the basis functions so that they transfonn according to the irreducible representations of the synnnetry group. 

The Hamiltonian matrix will be block diagonal in this basis set. There will be one block for each irreducible representation of the synnnetry group. 

Iterative approaches, including time-dependent methods, are especially successfiil for very large-scale calculations because they generally involve the action of a very localized operator (the Hamiltonian) on a fiinction defined on a grid. The effort increases relatively mildly with the problem size, since it is proportional to the number of points used to describe the wavefiinction (and not to the cube of the number of basis sets, as is the case for methods involving matrix diagonalization). Present computational power allows calculations... 

The symmetry argument actually goes beyond the above deterniination of the symmetries of Jahn-Teller active modes, the coefficients of the matrix element expansions in different coordinates are also symmetry determined. Consider, for simplicity, an electronic state of symmetiy in an even-electron molecule with a single threefold axis of symmetry, and choose a representation in which two complex electronic components, e ) = 1/v ( ca) i cb)), and two degenerate complex nuclear coordinate combinations Q = re " each have character T under the C3 operation, where x — The bras e have character x. Since the Hamiltonian operator is totally symmetric, the diagonal matrix elements e H e ) are totally symmetric, while the characters of the off-diagonal elements ezf H e ) are x. Since x = 1, it follows that an expansion of the complex Hamiltonian matrix to quadratic terms in Q. takes the form... 

Yarkoni [108] developed a computational method based on a perturbative approach [109,110], He showed that in the near vicinity of a conical intersection, the Hamiltonian operator may be written as the sum a nonperturbed Hamiltonian Hq and a linear perturbative temr. The expansion is made around a nuclear configuration Q, at which an intersection between two electronic wave functions takes place. The task is to find out under what conditions there can be a crossing at a neighboring nuclear configuration Qy. The diagonal Hamiltonian matrix elements at Qy may be written as... 

In the Kx ten ded H tick el approx irn ation, lli c eh urges in th c u n selected part arc treated like classical point charges. The correction of these classical charges to the diagonal elcincntsof the Hamiltonian matrix may be written as ... 

By parameterizing the off-diagonal Hamiltonian matrix elements in the following overlap-dependent manner ... 

Most ah initio calculations use symmetry-adapted molecular orbitals. Under this scheme, the Hamiltonian matrix is block diagonal. This means that every molecular orbital will have the symmetry properties of one of the irreducible representations of the point group. No orbitals will be described by mixing dilferent irreducible representations. 

The next step might be to perform a configuration interaction calculation, in order to get a more accurate representation of the excited states. We touched on this for dihydrogen in an earlier chapter. To do this, we take linear combinations of the 10 states given above, and solve a 10 x 10 matrix eigenvalue problem to find the expansion coefficients. The diagonal elements of the Hamiltonian matrix are given above (equation 8.7), and it turns out that there is a simplification. 

The matrix H 3 can be obtained fiom the general ex)x ession for the superoperator Hamiltonian matrix H33 recently derived (126). For the non-diagonal one-electron Hamiltonian it can be written as... 

Section II discusses the real wave packet propagation method we have found useful for the description of several three- and four-atom problems. As with many other wave packet or time-dependent quantum mechanical methods, as well as iterative diagonalization procedures for time-independent problems, repeated actions of a Hamiltonian matrix on a vector represent the major computational bottleneck of the method. Section III discusses relevant issues concerning the efficient numerical representation of the wave packet and the action of the Hamiltonian matrix on a vector in four-atom dynamics problems. Similar considerations apply to problems with fewer or more atoms. Problems involving four or more atoms can be computationally very taxing. Modern (parallel) computer architectures can be exploited to reduce the physical time to solution and Section IV discusses some parallel algorithms we have developed. Section V presents our concluding remarks. 

The evaluation of the action of the Hamiltonian matrix on a vector is the central computational bottleneck. (The action of the absorption matrix, A, is generally a simple diagonal damping operation near the relevant grid edges.) Section IIIA discusses a useful representation for four-atom systems. Section IIIB outlines one aspect of how the action of the kinetic energy operator is evaluated that may prove of general interest and also is of relevance for problems that require parallelization. Section IIIC discusses initial conditions and hnal state analysis and Section HID outlines some relevant equations for the construction of cross sections and rate constants for four-atom problems of the type AB + CD ABC + D. 

The Hermitian Hamiltonian matrix H, the diagonal matrix E, and the unitary matrix... 

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