Multidimensional systems semiclassical method

The calculation of the time evolution operator in multidimensional systems is a fomiidable task and some results will be discussed in this section. An alternative approach is the calculation of semi-classical dynamics as demonstrated, among others, by Heller [86, 87 and 88], Marcus [89, 90], Taylor [91, 92], Metiu [93, 94] and coworkers (see also [83] as well as the review by Miller [95] for more general aspects of semiclassical dynamics). This method basically consists of replacing the 5-fimction distribution in the true classical calculation by a Gaussian distribution in coordinate space. It allows for a simulation of the vibrational... 

Kay K G 1994 Semiclassical propagation for multidimensional systems by an initial value method J. Chem. Phys. 101 2250... 

For example, the ZN theory, which overcomes all the defects of the Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg theory, can be incorporated into various simulation methods in order to clarify the mechanisms of dynamics in realistic molecular systems. Since the nonadiabatic coupling is a vector and thus we can always determine the relevant one-dimensional (ID) direction of the transition in multidimensional space, the 1D ZN theory can be usefully utilized. Furthermore, the comprehension of reaction mechanisms can be deepened, since the formulas are given in simple analytical expressions. Since it is not feasible to treat realistic large systems fully quantum mechanically, it would be appropriate to incorporate the ZN theory into some kind of semiclassical methods. The promising semiclassical methods are (1) the initial value... 

As a consequence, the semiclassical propagator is given as a phase-space integral over the initial conditions qo and Po, which is amenable to a Monte Carlo evaluation. For this reason, semiclassical initial-value representations are regarded as the key to the application of semiclassical methods to multidimensional systems. 

As this approach deals with a set of classical trajectories, its numerical cost remains reasonable for multidimensional systems. Contrary to the classical approach, which controls only the averaged classical quantities, the present semiclassical method can control the quantum motion itself. This makes it possible to reproduce almost all quantum effects at a computational cost that does not grow too rapidly as the dimensionality of the system increases. The new approach therefore combines the advantages of the quantum and classical formulations of the optimal control theory. 

However, a multidimensional system is generally classically nonintegrable, and so the existence of classical chaos, which more or less appears in the (complex) phase space, introduces some intrinsic difficulties to applying the semiclassical method to multidimensional tunneling. Even if we restrict ourselves to the real domain, which means that we don t take into account tunneling phenomena, the existence of chaos is a real obstacle to endowing the semiclassical method with the rigorously mathematical basis, while some practical applications of the semiclassical method work well in prediction of quantal quantities which are used to characterize the quantum chaotic nature of a system under consideration [9,10]. The extension of the phase space to the complex domain will introduce further complexities and difficulties, and there is... 

The mapping procedure introduced in Sec. 6 results in a quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian with a well-defined classical limit, and therefore extends the applicability of the established semiclassical approaches to nonadiabatic dynamics. The thus obtained semiclassical version of the mapping approach, as well as the equivalent formulation that is obtained by requantizing the classical electron analog model of Meyer and Miller, have been applied to a variety of systems with nonadiabatic dynamics in the recent years. It appears that this approach is so far the only fully semiclassical method that allows a numerical treatment of truly multidimensional nonadiabatic dynamics at conical intersections. 

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