Hartree-Fock approximation solutions

Although in principle an exact solution to the Schrodinger equation can be expressed in the form of equation (A.13), the wave functions and coefficients da cannot to determined for an infinitely large set. In the Hartree-Fock approximation, it is assumed that the summation in equation (A.13) may be approximated by a single term, that is, that the correct wave function may be approximated by a single determinantal wave function , the first term of equation (A.13). The method of variations is used to determine the... 

The HF equations are approximate mainly because they treat electron-electron repulsion approximately (other approximations are mentioned in the answer suggested for Chapter 5, Harder Question 1). This repulsion is approximated as resulting from interaction between two charge clouds rather than correctly, as the force between each pair of point-charge electrons. The equations become more exact as one increases the number of determinants representing the wavefunctions (as well as the size of the basis set), but this takes us into post-Hartree-Fock equations. Solutions to the HF equations are exact because the mathematics of the solution method is rigorous successive iterations (the SCF method) approach an exact solution (within the limits of the finite basis set) to the equations, i.e. an exact value of the (approximate ) wavefunction l m.. 

It is not possible to obtain a direct solution of a Schrodinger equation for a structure containing more than two particles. Solutions are normally obtained by simplifying H by using the Hartree-Fock approximation. This approximation uses the concept of an effective field V to represent the interactions of an electron with all the other electrons in the structure. For example, the Hartree-Fock approximation converts the Hamiltonian operator (5.7) for each electron in the hydrogen molecule to the simpler form ... 

Of paramount importance in this latter category is the Hartree-Fock approximation. The so-called Hartree-Fock limit represents a well-defined plateau, in terms of its methematical and physical properties, in the hierarchy of approximate solutions to Schrodinger s electronic equation. In addition, the Hartree-Fock solution serves as the starting point for many of the presently employed methods whose ultimate goal is to achieve solutions to equation (5) of chemical accuracy. A discussion of the Hartree-Fock method and its associated concept of a self-consistent field thus provides a natural starting point for the discussion of the calculation of potential surfaces. 

Within the Hartree-Fock approximation, calculations on molecules have almost all used the matrix SCF method, in which the HF orbitals are expanded in terms of a finite basis set of functions. Direct numerical solution of the HF equations, routine for atoms, has, however, been thought too difficult, but McCullough has shown that, for diatomic molecules, a partial numerical integration procedure will yield very good results.102 In particular, the Heg results agree well with the usual calculations, and it is claimed that the orbitals are likely to be of more nearly uniform accuracy than in the matrix HF calculations. Extensions to larger molecules should be very interesting so far, published results are available for He, Heg, and LiH. 

The introduction of the concept of one-electron crystal orbitals (CO s) considerably reduces difficulties associated with the many-electron nature of the crystal electronic structure problem. The Hartree-Fock (HF) solution represents the best possible description of a many-electron system with a one-determinantal wavefunction built from symmetry-adapted one-electron CO s (Bloch functions). The HF approach is, of course, only a first approximation to the many-particle problem, but it has many advantages both from practical and theoretical points of view ... 

In practical calculations, it is never possible to obtain the exact solution to eqn (1). Instead, approximate methods are used that are based on either the Hartree-Fock approximation or the density-functional formalism in the Kohn-Sham formulation. In the case of the Hartree-Fock approximation one may add correlation elfects, which, however, is beyond the scope of the present discussion (for details, see, e.g., ref. 1). Then, in both cases the problem of calculating the best approximation to the ground-state electronic energy is transformed into that of solving a set of singleparticle equations,... 

For a closed shell system, there will be an even number of electrons, 2n. Equation 2 is a partial differential equation for the wavefunction Plec, which depends on the positions of all 2n electrons. Most people familiar with the technique of separation of variables will recognize that, except for the electron-electron repulsion term, the solution to equation 2 could be written using separation of variables. Thus we could write elec as a product of functions of only one-electron coordinates, f/t (x,y,z). In the molecular-orbital parlance, (his next move is called the Hartree-Fock approximation. This separation of variables allows us to write... 

Our calculations for multi-electron atoms in magnetic fields are carried out under the assumption of an infinitely heavy nucleus in the (unrestricted) Hartree-Fock approximation. The solution is established in the cylindrical coordinate system (p, p, z) with the 2-axis oriented along the magnetic field. We prescribe to each electron a definite value of the magnetic quantum number mp. Each single-electron wave function depends on the variables p and (p, z)... 

Thus, the method described above allows us to obtain a number of new physical results partially presented in this communication. These calculations are carried out in the Hartree-Fock approximation for multi-electron systems and are exact solutions of the Schrodinger equation for the single-electron case. As the following development of the method we plan to implement the configuration interaction approach in order to study correlation effects in multi-electron systems both in electric and magnetic fields. 

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