Electron independent approximation

The simplest approximation to the Schrodinger equation is an independent-electron approximation, such as the Hiickel method for Jt-electron systems, developed by E. Hiickel. Later, others, principally Roald Hoffmann of Cornell University, extended the Hiickel approximations to arbitrary systems having both n and a electrons—the Extended Hiickel Theory (EHT) approximation. This chapter describes some of the basics of molecular orbital theory with a view to later explaining the specifics of HyperChem EHT calculations. 

Since the early days of quantum mechanics, the wave function theory has proven to be very successful in describing many different quantum processes and phenomena. However, in many problems of quantum chemistry and solid-state physics, where the dimensionality of the systems studied is relatively high, ab initio calculations of the structure of atoms, molecules, clusters, and crystals, and their interactions are very often prohibitive. Hence, alternative formulations based on the direct use of the probability density, gathered under what is generally known as the density matrix theory [1], were also developed since the very beginning of the new mechanics. The independent electron approximation or Thomas-Fermi model, and the Hartree and Hartree-Fock approaches are former statistical models developed in that direction [2]. These models can be considered direct predecessors of the more recent density functional theory (DFT) [3], whose principles were established by Hohenberg,... 

In most cases, the orbital relaxation contribution is negligible and the Fukui function and the FMO reactivity indicators give the same results. For example, the Fukui functions and the FMO densities both predict that electrophilic attack on propylene occurs on the double bond (Figure 18.1) and that nucleophilic attack on BF3 occurs at the Boron center (Figure 18.2). The rare cases where orbital relaxation effects are nonnegligible are precisely the cases where the Fukui functions should be preferred over the FMO reactivity indicators [19-22], In short, while FMO theory is based on orbitals from an independent electron approximation like Hartree-Fock or Kohn-Sham, the Fukui function is based on the true many-electron density. 

This is the one-electron approximation, also called the independent electron approximation and hence the le superscript, where a Hamiltonian Hq of an A e-electron system can be expressed as the sum of Ne one-electron Hamiltonians and the Schrodinger equation to be solved becomes ... 

To make a quantitative treatment, we define a system including a tip and a sample, as shown in Fig. 7.6. Independent electron approximation is applied. The Schrbdinger equation is identical to Eq. (7.6), with the potential surface shown in Fig. 7.6. Similar to the treatment of hydrogen molecular ion, a separation surface is drawn between the tip and the sample. The exact position of the surface is not important. Define two subsystems, the sample S and the tip T, with potential surfaces Hs and Ut, respectively, as shown in Fig. 7.6 (c) and... 

The origin of these effects has been debated. One possibility is the Peierls instability [57], which is discussed elsewhere in this book In a one-dimensional system with a half-filled band and electron-photon coupling, the total energy is decreased by relaxing the atomic positions so that the unit cell is doubled and a gap opens in the conduction band at the Brillouin zone boundary. However, this is again within an independent electron approximation, and electron correlations should not be neglected. They certainly are important in polyenes, and the fact that the lowest-lying excited state in polyenes is a totally symmetric (Ag) state instead of an antisymmetric (Bu) state, as expected from independent electron models, is a consequence... 

This chapter begins a series of chapters devoted to electronic structure and transport properties. In the present chapter, the foundation for understanding band structures of crystalline solids is laid. The presumption is, of course, that said electronic structures are more appropriately described from the standpoint of an MO (or Bloch)-type approach, rather than the Heitler-London valence-bond approach. This chapter will start with the many-body Schrodinger equation and the independent-electron (Hartree-Fock) approximation. This is followed with Bloch s theorem for wave functions in a periodic potential and an introduction to reciprocal space. Two general approaches are then described for solving the extended electronic structure problem, the free-electron model and the LCAO method, both of which rely on the independent-electron approximation. Finally, the consequences of the independent-electron approximation are examined. Chapter 5 studies the tight-binding method in detail. Chapter 6 focuses on electron and atomic dynamics (i.e. transport properties), and the metal-nonmetal transition is discussed in Chapter 7. 

The independent-electron approximation was discussed in the previous chapter. The molecular wave functions, ifi, are solutions of the Hartree-Fock equation, where the Fock operator operates on tfi, but the exact form of the operator is determined by the wave-function itself. This kind of problem is solved by an iterative procedure, where convergence is taken to occur at the step in which the wave function and energy do not differ appreciably from the prior step. The effective independent-electron Hamiltonian (the Fock operator) is denoted here simply as H. The wave functions are expressed as linear combinations of atomic functions, x-... 

CO. For that matter, in regards to predicting the type of electrical behavior, one has to be careful not to place excessive credence on actual electronic structure calculations that invoke the independent electron approximation. One-electron band theory predicts metallic behavior in all of the transition metal monoxides, although it is only observed in the case of TiO The other oxides, NiO, CoO, MnO, FeO, and VO, are aU insulating, despite the fact that the Fermi level falls in a partially hUed band. In the insulating phases, the Coulomb interaction energy is over 4 eV whereas the bandwidths have been found to be approximately 3 eV, that is, U > W. 

The distance between two electrons at a given site is given as ri2. The electron wave function for one of the electrons is given as (p(ri) and the wave function for the second electron, with antiparallel spin, is Hubbard intra-atomic energy and it is not accounted for in conventional band theory, in which the independent electron approximation is invoked. Finally, it should also be noted that the Coulomb repulsion interaction had been introduced earlier in the Anderson model describing a magnetic impurity coupled to a conduction band (Anderson, 1961). In fact, it has been shown that the Hubbard Hamiltonian reduces to the Anderson model in the limit of infinite-dimensional (Hilbert) space (Izyumov, 1995). Hence, Eq. 7.3 is sometimes referred to as the Anderson-Hubbard repulsion term. 

The independent-electron approximation allows for a distinction of target electrons and projectile-centered electrons which screen the projectile... 

---