Molecular orbital-configuration interaction 452 Subject

The aim of this chapter is to review the current status of the quantum-mechanical calculation of electric and magnetic properties of isolated atoms and molecules. In view of the rapid advances made during the past decade in the calculation of ab initio molecular wavefunctions, we will clearly concentrate for the most part on the calculation of such properties using standard ab initio methods such as gaussian orbital LCAO-MO-SCF (linear combination of atomic orbital-miolecular orbital-self-consistent field), configuration interaction (Cl), coupled Hartree-Fock, and the like, but will also review similar calculations at the semi-empirical and empirical level where appropriate. For readers unfamiliar with the theory of electric and magnetic properties, the books by Davies and by Atkins review the subject thoroughly, whilst the more technical details of quantum-mechanical calculations on atoms and molecules have been described in many other places. ... 

The computationally viable description of electron correlation for stationary state molecular systems has been the subject of considerable research in the past two decades. A recent review1 gives a historical perspective on the developments in the field of quantum chemistry. The predominant methods for the description of electron correlation have been configuration interactions (Cl) and perturbation theory (PT) more recently, the variant of Cl involving reoptimization of the molecular orbitals [i.e., multiconfiguration self-consistent field (MCSCF)] has received much attention.1 As is reasonable to expect, neither Cl nor PT is wholly satisfactory a possible alternative is the use of cluster operators, in the electron excitations, to describe the correlation.2-3... 

The SCF solutions of many-electron configurations on atoms, like the hydrogen solutions, are only valid for isolated atoms, and therefore inappropriate for the simulation of real chemical systems. Furthermore, the spherical symmetry of an isolated atom breaks down on formation of a molecule, but the molecular symmetry remains subject to the conservation of orbital angular momentum. This means that molecular conformation is dictated by the re-alignment of atomic o-a-m vectors and the electromagnetic interaction... 

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