Non-adiabatic

There can be subtle but important non-adiabatic effects [14, ll], due to the non-exactness of the separability of the nuclei and electrons. These are treated elsewhere in this Encyclopedia.) The potential fiinction V(R) is detennined by repeatedly solving the quantum mechanical electronic problem at different values of R. Physically, the variation of V(R) is due to the fact that the electronic cloud adjusts to different values of the intemuclear separation in a subtle interplay of mutual particle attractions and repulsions electron-electron repulsions, nuclear-nuclear repulsions and electron-nuclear attractions. 

It should be noted that in the cases where y"j[,q ) > 0, the centroid variable becomes irrelevant to the quantum activated dynamics as defined by (A3.8.Id) and the instanton approach [37] to evaluate based on the steepest descent approximation to the path integral becomes the approach one may take. Alternatively, one may seek a more generalized saddle point coordinate about which to evaluate A3.8.14. This approach has also been used to provide a unified solution for the thennal rate constant in systems influenced by non-adiabatic effects, i.e. to bridge the adiabatic and non-adiabatic (Golden Rule) limits of such reactions. 

In its most fiindamental fonn, quantum molecular dynamics is associated with solving the Sclirodinger equation for molecular motion, whether using a single electronic surface (as in the Bom-Oppenlieimer approximation— section B3.4.2 or with the inclusion of multiple electronic states, which is important when discussing non-adiabatic effects, in which tire electronic state is changed [15,16, YL, 18 and 19]. 

A comer-stone of a large portion of quantum molecular dynamics is the use of a single electronic surface. Since electrons are much lighter than nuclei, they typically adjust their wavefiinction to follow the nuclei [26]. Specifically, if a collision is started in which the electrons are in their ground state, they typically remain in the ground state. An exception is non-adiabatic processes, which are discussed later in this section. 

The molecular phase effects are especially important when the system has some type of synnnetry. Nevertheless, the typical treatment of non-adiabatic effects ignores the adiabatic phase, although, as cautioned, this is a problematic step. 

The simplest approach to simulating non-adiabatic dynamics is by surface hopping [175. 176]. In its simplest fomi, the approach is as follows. One carries out classical simulations of the nuclear motion on a specific adiabatic electronic state (ground or excited) and at any given instant checks whether the diabatic potential associated with that electronic state is mtersectmg the diabatic potential on another electronic state. If it is, then a decision is made as to whedier a jump to the other adiabatic electronic state should be perfomied. 

The ultimate approach to simulate non-adiabatic effects is tln-ough the use of a fiill Scln-ddinger wavefunction for both the nuclei and the electrons, using the adiabatic-diabatic transfomiation methods discussed above. The whole machinery of approaches to solving the Scln-ddinger wavefiinction for adiabatic problems can be used, except that the size of the wavefiinction is now essentially doubled (for problems involving two-electronic states, to account for both states). The first application of these methods for molecular dynamical problems was for the charge-transfer system... 

Finally, semi-classical approaches to non-adiabatic dynamics have also been fomuilated and siiccessfLilly applied [167. 181]. In an especially transparent version of these approaches [167], one employs a mathematical trick which converts the non-adiabatic surfaces to a set of coupled oscillators the number of oscillators is the same as the number of electronic states. This mediod is also quite accurate, except drat the number of required trajectories grows with time, as in any semi-classical approach. 

Baer M 1985 The theory of electronic non-adiabatic transitions in chemical reactions Theory of Chemical Reaction Dynamics vol II, ed M Baer (Boca Raton, FL CRC Press) p 281... 

Niv M Y, Krylov A I and Gerber R B 1997 Photodissociation, electronic relaxation and recombination of HCI in Ar-n(HCI) clusters—non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations Faraday Discuss. Chem. Soc. 108 243-54... 

The next significant development in the history of the geomebic phase is due to Mead and Truhlar [10]. The early workers [1-3] concenbated mainly on the specboscopic consequences of localized non-adiabatic coupling between the upper and lower adiabatic elecbonic eigenstates, while one now speaks... 

While the presence of sign changes in the adiabatic eigenstates at a conical intersection was well known in the early Jahn-Teller literature, much of the discussion centered on solutions of the coupled equations arising from non-adiabatic coupling between the two or mom nuclear components of the wave function in a spectroscopic context. Mead and Truhlar [10] were the first to... 

Phase factors of this type are employed, for example, by the Baer group [25,26]. While Eq. (34) is strictly applicable only in the immediate vicinity of the conical intersection, the continuity of the non-adiabatic coupling, discussed in Section HI, suggests that the integrated value of (x Vq x+) is independent of the size or shape of the encircling loop, provided that no other conical intersection is encountered. The mathematical assumption is that there exists some phase function, vl/(2), such that... 

They must be coupled by separate radial factors in a full calculation [2] but, to the extent that non-adiabatic coupling between the upper and lower... 

Some final comments on the relevance of non-adiabatic coupling matrix elements to the nature of the vector potential a are in order. The above analysis of the implications of the Aharonov coupling scheme for the single-surface nuclear dynamics shows that the off-diagonal operator A provides nonzero contiibutions only via the term (n A n). There are therefore no necessary contributions to a from the non-adiabatic coupling. However, as discussed earlier, in Section IV [see Eqs. (34)-(36)] in the context of the x e Jahn-Teller model, the phase choice t / = —4>/2 coupled with the identity... 

NON-ADIABATIC EFFECTS IN CHEMICAL REACTIONS EXTENDED BORN-OPPENHEIMER EQUATIONS AND ITS APPLICATIONS... 

A. The Quantization of the Non-Adiabatic Coupling Matrix Along a Closed Path... 

The non-adiabatic effect on the ground adiabatic state dynamics can as mentioned in the introduction be incorporated either by including a vector potential... 

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