Linear combination of atomic orbitals approach

We encountered basis sets in Sections 4.3.4,4.4.1.2, and 5.2.3.6.L A basis set is a set of mathematical functions (basis functions), linear combinations of which yield molecular orbitals, as shown in Eqs. 5.51 and 5.52. The functions are usually, but not invariably, centered on atomic nuclei (Fig. 5.7). Approximating molecular orbitals as linear combinations of basis functions is usually called the LCAO or linear combination of atomic orbitals approach, although the functions are not... 

By far the most widely used type of basis set can be regarded as a particular type of distributed basis set. In the Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals approach the global basis set is built from basis subsets centred on each of the component atoms in the system that is... 

The molecular orbital approach to chemical bonding rests on the notion that as elec trons m atoms occupy atomic orbitals electrons m molecules occupy molecular orbitals Just as our first task m writing the electron configuration of an atom is to identify the atomic orbitals that are available to it so too must we first describe the orbitals avail able to a molecule In the molecular orbital method this is done by representing molec ular orbitals as combinations of atomic orbitals the linear combination of atomic orbitals molecular orbital (LCAO MO) method... 

To compute molecular orbitals, you must give them mathematical form. The usual approach is to expand them as a linear combination of known functions, such as the atomic orbitals of the constituent atoms of the molecular system. If the atomic orbitals, (Is, 2s, 2px, 2py, 2pz, etc.) are denoted as then this equation describes the molecular orbitals as linear combination of atomic orbitals (MO-LCAO) ... 

The Hartree-Fock orbitals are expanded in an infinite series of known basis functions. For instance, in diatomic molecules, certain two-center functions of elliptic coordinates are employed. In practice, a limited number of appropriate atomic orbitals (AO) is adopted as the basis. Such an approach has been developed by Roothaan 10>. In this case the Hartree-Fock differential equations are replaced by a set of nonlinear simultaneous equations in which the limited number of AO coefficients in the linear combinations are unknown variables. The orbital energies and the AO coefficients are obtained by solving the Fock-Roothaan secular equations by an iterative method. This is the procedure of the Roothaan LCAO (linear-combination-of-atomic-orbitals) SCF (self-consistent-field) method. 

Most of the commonly used electronic-structure methods are based upon Hartree-Fock theory, with electron correlation sometimes included in various ways (Slater, 1974). Typically one begins with a many-electron wave function comprised of one or several Slater determinants and takes the one-electron wave functions to be molecular orbitals (MO s) in the form of linear combinations of atomic orbitals (LCAO s) (An alternative approach, the generalized valence-bond method (see, for example, Schultz and Messmer, 1986), has been used in a few cases but has not been widely applied to defect problems.)... 

In the present approach, the KS orbitals are expanded in a set of functions related to atomic orbitals (Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals, LCAO). These functions usually are optimized in atomic calculations. In our implementation a basis set of contracted Gaussians VF/ is used. The basis set is in general a truncated (finite) basis set reasonably selected . 

The MO theory differs greatly from the VB approach and the basic MO theory is an extension of the atomic structure theory to molecular regime. MOs are delocalized over the nuclear framework and have led to equations, which are computationally tractable. At the heart of the MO approach lies the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) formahsm... 

The first calculations on a two-electron bond was undertaken by Heitler and London for the H2 molecule and led to what is known as the valence bond approach. While the valence bond approach gained general acceptance in the chemical community, Robert S. Mulliken and others developed the molecular orbital approach for solving the electronic structure problem for molecules. The molecular orbital approach for molecules is the analogue of the atomic orbital approach for atoms. Each electron is subject to the electric field created by the nuclei plus that of the other electrons. Thus, one was led to a Hartree-Fock approach for molecules just as one had been for atoms. The molecular orbitals were written as linear combinations of atomic orbitals (i.e. hydrogen atom type atomic orbitals). The integrals that needed to be calculated presented great difficulty and the computations needed were... 

In the MO approach molecular orbitals are expressed as a linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) atomic orbitals (AO), in return, are determined from the approximate numerical solution of the electronic Schrodinger equation for each of the parent atoms in the molecule. This is the reason why hydrogen-atom-like wavefunctions continue to be so important in quantum mechanics. Mathematically, MO-LCAO means that the wave-functions of the molecule containing N atoms can be expressed as... 

Band Theory of Metals, Three approaches predict the electronic band structure of metals. The first approach (Kronig-Penney), the periodic potential method, starts with free electrons and then considers nearly bound electrons. The second (Ziman) takes into account Bragg reflection as a strong disturbance in the propagation of electrons. The third approach (Feynman) starts with completely bound electrons to atoms and then considers a linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAOs). 

However, solving such an equation for a solid is something of a tall order because exact solutions have not yet been found for small molecules and even a small crystal could well contain of the order of lO atoms. An approximation often used for smaller molecules is that combining atomic wave functions can form the molecular wave functions. This linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) approach can also be applied to solids. 

Various theoretical methods and approaches have been used to model properties and reactivities of metalloporphyrins. They range from the early use of qualitative molecular orbital diagrams (24,25), linear combination of atomic orbitals to yield molecular orbitals (LCAO-MO) calculations (26-30), molecular mechanics (31,32) and semi-empirical methods (33-35), and self-consistent field method (SCF) calculations (36-43) to the methods commonly used nowadays (molecular dynamic simulations (31,44,45), density functional theory (DFT) (35,46-49), Moller-Plesset perturbation theory ( ) (50-53), configuration interaction (Cl) (35,42,54-56), coupled cluster (CC) (57,58), and CASSCF/CASPT2 (59-63)). 

The Feynman Model. The Feynman approach, or the LCAO (linear combination of atomic orbitals) method, assumes that a wavefunction of valence electrons i/> in a metal is a linear combination of atomic functions. 

The relaxation of the structure in the KMC-DR method was done using an approach based on the density functional theory and linear combination of atomic orbitals implemented in the Siesta code [97]. The minimum basis set of localized numerical orbitals of Sankey type [98] was used for all atoms except silicon atoms near the interface, for which polarization functions were added to improve the description of the SiOx layer. The core electrons were replaced with norm-conserving Troullier-Martins pseudopotentials [99] (Zr atoms also include 4p electrons in the valence shell). Calculations were done in the local density approximation (LDA) of DFT. The grid in the real space for the calculation of matrix elements has an equivalent cutoff energy of 60 Ry. The standard diagonalization scheme with Pulay mixing was used to get a self-consistent solution. In the framework of the KMC-DR method, it is not necessary to perform an accurate optimization of the structure, since structure relaxation is performed many times. 

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