Partition function generalized

FORMULATION OF THE CONFORMATIONAL PARTITION FUNCTION GENERAL PROCEDURE... 

Finally, the generalization of the partition function q m transition state theory (equation (A3.4.96)) is given by... 

These equations lead to fomis for the thermal rate constants that are perfectly similar to transition state theory, although the computations of the partition functions are different in detail. As described in figrne A3.4.7 various levels of the theory can be derived by successive approximations in this general state-selected fomr of the transition state theory in the framework of the statistical adiabatic chaimel model. We refer to the literature cited in the diagram for details. 

For a given Hamiltonian the calculation of the partition function can be done exactly in only few cases (some of them will be presented below). In general the calculation requires a scheme of approximations. Mean-field approximation (MFA) is a very popular approximation based on the steepest descent method [17,22]. In this case it is assumed that the main contribution to Z is due to fields which are localized in a small region of the functional space. More crudely, for each kind of particle only one field is... 

The time evolution of the function f is thus replaced by a sequence of discrete symbols labeling the bins visited by each point of the orbit. Because of the coarse-graining of the phase space, however, detailed knowledge of the actual orbits is generally lost i.e. many different orbits may yield the same symbolic sequence. Different state-space partitionings also generally give rise to different symbolic representations. 

Notice that the associated spin model has the following three properties (1) it is, in general, anisotropic (i.e. a-2 / CI3), (2) its set of coupling constants hi, hij, /1123) are interdependent (this should be obvious from equation 7.63, which provides a parameterization of each of these seven constants in terms of our original four independent conditional probabilities, aj (equation 7.58)), and (3) its partition function, Z, can be calculated exactly. 

Current use of statistical thermodynamics implies that the adsorption system can be effectively separated into the gas phase and the adsorbed phase, which means that the partition function of motions normal to the surface can be represented with sufficient accuracy by that of oscillators confined to the surface. This becomes less valid, the shorter is the mean adsorption time of adatoms, i.e. the higher is the desorption temperature. Thus, near the end of the desorption experiment, especially with high heating rates, another treatment of equilibria should be used, dealing with the whole system as a single phase, the adsorbent being a boundary. This is the approach of the gas-surface virial expansion of adsorption isotherms (51, 53) or of some more general treatment of this kind. 

This, combined with Eq. (8-238), yields the general explicit form for the grand partition function operator. 

If the molecules are not distinguishable, these six combinations are the same and the combined partition function should be decreased by a factor of 6. In general, we can write that for N indistinguishable units... 

But molecular gases also have rotation and vibration. We only make the correction for indistinguishability once. Thus, we do not divide by IV l to write the relationship between Zro[, the rotational partition function of N molecules, and rrol, the rotational partition function for an individual molecule, if we have already assigned the /N term to the translation. The same is true for the relationship between Zv,h and In general, we write for the total partition function Z for N units... 

Under most circumstances the equations given in Table 10.4 accurately calculate the thermodynamic properties of the ideal gas. The most serious approximations involve the replacement of the summation with an integral [equations (10.94) and (10.95)] in calculating the partition function for the rigid rotator, and the approximation that the rotational and vibrational partition functions for a gas can be represented by those for a rigid rotator and harmonic oscillator. In general, the errors introduced by these approximations are most serious for the diatomic molecule." Fortunately, it is for the diatomic molecule that corrections are most easily calculated. It is also for these molecules that spectroscopic information is often available to make the corrections for anharmonicity and nonrigid rotator effects. We will summarize the relationships... 

When we deal with the subject of reactions in solution, which has been our primary emphasis, we are not concerned with ab initio calculations of Ki, since in general the partition functions are unavailable for the participants. 

Thus, given sufEcient detailed knowledge of the internal energy levels of the molecules participating in a reaction, we can calculate the relevant partition functions, and then the equilibrium constant from Eq. (67). This approach is applicable in general Determine the partition function, then estimate the chemical potentials of the reacting species, and the equilibrium constant can be determined. A few examples will illustrate this approach. 

From Eqs. (45) and (46) it is apparent that the calculation of the energy and heat capacity of a system depends on the evaluation of the partition function a a function of temperature. In the more general case of molecules with an internal structure, the energy distributions of the various degrees of freedom must bo determined. This problem is outlined briefly in the following section. 

In summary, Eq. (86) is a general expression for the number of particles in a given quantum state. If t = 1, this result is appropriate to Fenni-rDirac statistics, or to Bose-Einstein statistics, respectively. However, if i is equated torero, the result corresponds to the Maxwell -Boltzmann distribution. In many cases the last is a good approximation to quantum systems, which is furthermore, a correct description of classical ones - those in which the energy levels fotm a continuum. From these results the partition functions can be calculated, leading to expressions for the various thermodynamic functions for a given system. In many cases these values, as obtained from spectroscopic observations, are more accurate than those obtained by direct thermodynamic measurements. 

This equation forms the fundamental connection between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in the canonical ensemble, from which it follows that calculating A is equivalent to estimating the value of Q. In general, evaluating Q is a very difficult undertaking. In both experiments and calculations, however, we are interested in free energy differences, AA, between two systems or states of a system, say 0 and 1, described by the partition functions Qo and (), respectively - the arguments N, V., T have been dropped to simplify the notation ... 

However, since and -5 asymptote to the same function, one might approximate (U) = S dJ) in (3.57) so that the acceptance probability is a constant.3 The procedure allows trial swaps to be accepted with 100% probability. This general parallel processing scheme, in which the macrostate range is divided into windows and configuration swaps are permitted, is not limited to density-of-states simulations or the WL algorithm in particular. Alternate partition functions can be calculated in this way, such as from previous discussions, and the parallel implementation is also feasible for the multicanonical approach [34] and transition-matrix calculations [35],... 

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