Intermolecular forces many-body contribution

Recently, a new theoretical method of calculating potential energy and dipole/polarizability surfaces for van der Waals molecules based on symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (sapt) of intermolecular forces (12)— (15) has been developed (16)-(24). In this method, referred to as many-body symmetry-adapted perturbation theory, all physically important contributions to the potential and the interaction-induced properties, such as electrostatics, exchange, induction, and dispersion are identified and computed separately. By making a perturbation expansion in the intermolecular interaction as well as in the intramolecular electronic correlation, it is possible to sum the correlation contributions to the different physical... 

The interaction energies of clusters of molecules can be decomposed into pair contributions and pairwise-nonadditive contributions. The emphasis of this chapter is on the latter components. Both the historical and current investigations are reviewed. The physical mechanisms responsible for the existence of the many-body forces are described using symmetry-adapted perturbation theory of intermolecular interactions. The role of nonadditive effects in several specific trimers, including some open-shell trimers, is discussed. These effects are also discussed for the condensed phases of argon and water. 

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