Zeroth-order Hamiltonians

In all methods, the first-order interaetion energy is just the differenee between the expeetation value of the system Hamiltonian for the antisyimnetrized produet fiinetion and the zeroth-order energy... 

For H2, let us write down the zeroth-order electronic Hamiltonian (in atomic unit) ... 

The appearance of the (normally small) linear term in Vis a consequence of the use of reference, instead of equilibrium configuration]. Because the stretching vibrational displacements are of small amplitude, the series in Eqs. (40) should converge quickly. The zeroth-order Hamiltonian is obtained by neglecting all but the leading terms in these expansions, pjjjf and Vo(p) + 1 /2X) rl2r and has the... 

We introduce the dimensionless bending coordinates qr = t/XrPr anti qc = tAcPc ith Xt = (kT -r) = PrOir, Xc = sJ kcPc) = Pc nc. where cor and fOc are the harmonic frequencies for pure trans- and cis-bending vibrations, respectively. After integrating over 0, we obtain the effective Hamiltonian H = Ho + H, which is employed in the perturbative handling of the R-T effect and the spin-orbit coupling. Its zeroth-order pait is of the foim... 

We restrict ourselves again to symmetric tetraatomic molecules (ABBA) with linear eqnilibrium geometi7. After integrating over electronic spatial and spin coordinates we obtain for A elecbonic states in the lowest order (quartic) approximation the effective model Hamiltonian H — Hq+ H, which zeroth-order part is given by Eq. (A.4) and the perturbative part of it of the form... 

The zeroth-order Hamiltonian and the spin-orbit part of the perturbation are diagonal with respect to the quantum numbers K, E, P, Uj, It, Uc, and Ic-The terms of H involving the parameters aj, ac, and bo aie diagonal with respect to both the Ij and Ic quantum numbers, while the f>2 term connects with one another the basis functions with I j = Ij 2, 4- 2. The c terms... 

To obtain the Hamiltonian at zeroth-order of approximation, it is necessary not only to exclude the kinetic energy of the nuclei, but also to assume that the nuclear internal coordinates are frozen at R = Ro, where Ro is a certain reference nucleai configuration, for example, the absolute minimum or the conical intersection. Thus, as an initial basis, the states t / (r,s) = t / (r,s Ro) are the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian s, R ). Accordingly, instead of Eq. (3), one has... 

The eigenfunctions of the zeroth-order Hamiltonian are written with energies. ground-state wavefunction is thus with energy Eg° To devise a scheme by Lch it is possible to gradually improve the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of we write the true Hamiltonian as follows ... 

In order to calculate higher-order wavefunctions we need to establish the form of the perturbation, f. This is the difference between the real Hamiltonian and the zeroth-order Hamiltonian, Remember that the Slater determinant description, based on an orbital picture of the molecule, is only an approximation. The true Hamiltonian is equal to the sum of the nuclear attraction terms and electron repulsion terms ... 

This partieular Hamiltonian, when aeting on any Slater determinant formed by plaeing N eleetrons into the SCF spin-orbitals, yields a zeroth order eigenvalue equal to the sum of the orbital energies of the spin-orbitals appearing in that determinant ... 

Rayleigh-Schrodinger many-body perturbation theory — RSPT). In this approach, the total Hamiltonian of the system is divided or partitioned into two parts a zeroth-order part, Hq (which has... 

Finally, in order to ensure an homogeneous treatment of all excited states at the variational level, the MCSCF calculation should be averaged on the states under investigation. The lowest eigenfunetions of the MCSCF Hamiltonian will provide the zeroth-order wavefunetions to build the perturbation on. 

The C matrix, the columns ofwhich, Cj(, are the eigenvectors of H, is normally not too different from the matrix defined above. However, the QDPT treatment, applied either to an adiabatic or to a diabatic zeroth-order basis, is necessary in order to prevent serious artefacts, especially in the case of avoided crossings [27]. The preliminary diabatisation makes it easier to interpolate the matrix elements of the hamiltonian and of other operators as functions of the nuclear coordinates and to calculate the nonadiabatic coupling matrix elements ... 

Another approach widely used for nonadiabatic reactions is the diabatic one. The channel Hamiltonians Hex and H determining the zeroth-order Born-Oppenheimer electron states of the donor A and acceptor B and the perturbations Vt and Vf leading to the forward and reverse electron transitions, respectively, are separated... 

Since the interaction of the electron with the medium polarization is strong, in the reference model it was usually included in the zeroth-order Hamiltonians determining the Born-Oppenheimer electron states ... 

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