Quantum mechanics time-dependent density functional theory

Addressing large molecular systems is the aim of Chapter 3, which reviews a recently developed model based on the combined use of quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM). This approach uses a fully self-consistent polarizable embedding (PE) scheme described in the paper. The PE model is generally compatible with any quantum chemical method, but this review is focused on its combination with density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). The PE method is based on the use of an electrostatic embedding potential resulting from the permanent charge distribution of the classically treated part of... 

The goal of quantum mechanical methods is to predict the structure, energy and properties for an A-particle system, where N refers to both the electrons and the nuclei. The energy of the system is a direct function of the exact position of all of the atoms and the forces that act upon the electrons and the nuclei of each atom. In order to calculate the electronic states of the system and their energy levels, quantum mechanical methods attempt to solve Schrodinger s equation. While most of the work that is relevant to catalysis deals with the solution of the time-independent Schrodinger equation, more recent advances in the development of time-dependent density functional theory will be discussed owing to its relevance to excited-state predictions. 

Time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) extends the basic ideas of ground-state density-functional theory (DFT) to the treatment of excitations and of more general time-dependent phenomena. TDDFT can be viewed as an alternative formulation of time-dependent quantum mechanics but, in contrast to the normal approach that relies on wave-functions and on the many-body Schrodinger equation, its basic variable is the one-body electron density, n(r,t). The advantages are clear The many-body wave-function, a function in a 3A-dimensional space (where N is the number of electrons in the system), is a very complex mathematical object, while the density is a simple function that depends solely on the 3-dimensional vector r. The standard way to obtain n r,t) is with the help of a fictitious system of noninteracting electrons, the Kohn-Sham system. The final equations are simple to tackle numerically, and are routinely solved for systems with a large number of atoms. These electrons feel an effective potential, the time-dependent Kohn-Sham potential. The exact form of this potential is unknown, and has therefore to be approximated. 

Wohlgemuth M, Bonacic-Koutecky V, Mitric R (2011) Time-dependent density functional theory excited state nonadiabatic d5mamics combined with quantum mechanital/molecular mechanical approach photrxlynamics of indole in water. J Chem Phys 135 054105 Ben Nun M, Quenneville J, Martinez TJ (2000) Ab initio multiple spawning photochemistry from first principles quantum molecular dynamics. J Phys Chem A 104 5161-5175... 

Abstract We present a general theoretical approach for the simulation and control of ultrafast processes in complex molecular systems. It is based on the combination of quantum chemical nonadiabatic dynamics on the fly with the Wigner distribution approach for simulation and control of laser-induced ultrafast processes. Specifically, we have developed a procedure for the nonadiabatic dynamics in the framework of time-dependent density functional theory using localized basis sets, which is applicable to a large class of molecules and clusters. This has been combined with our general approach for the simulation of time-resolved photoelectron spectra that represents a powerful tool to identify the mechanism of nonadiabatic processes, which has been illustrated on the example of ultrafast photodynamics of furan. Furthermore, we present our field-induced surface hopping (FISH) method which allows to include laser fields directly into the nonadiabatic... 

The electronic contribution can be computed using two derivative schemes involving quantum mechanical calculations of the free energy or, alternar tively, of the dipole moment followed by derivatives with respect to the perturbing external field, computed at zero intensity. At Hartree-Fock (HF) or Density Functional Theory level both approaches lead to the use of the coupled HF or KS theory either in its time-independent (CHF, CKS) or time-dependent (TDCHF, TDDFT) version according to the case. 

To date, there has only been one attempt to develop a dynamic density functional theory for systems in which inertia plays a role [8]. However, it has been shown that the formal proof for the existence of a quantum mechanical dynamical density functional theory by Runge and Gross can be applied to classical systems [9] by starting from the Liouville equation for Hamiltonian systems (instead of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation), which therefore includes inertia terms. However, the proof is not of practical use (see below). 

Modem first principles computational methodologies, such as those based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) and its Time Dependent extension (TDDFT), provide the theoretical/computational framework to describe most of the desired properties of the individual dye/semiconductor/electrolyte systems and of their relevant interfaces. The information extracted from these calculations constitutes the basis for the explicit simulation of photo-induced electron transfer by means of quantum or non-adiabatic dynamics. The dynamics introduces a further degree of complexity in the simulation, due to the simultaneous description of the coupled nuclear/electronic problem. Various combinations of electronic stmcture/ excited states and nuclear dynamics descriptions have been applied to dye-sensitized interfaces [54—57]. In most cases these approaches rely either on semi-empirical Hamiltonians [58, 59] or on the time-dependent propagation of single particle DFT orbitals [60, 61], with the nuclear dynamics being described within mixed quantum-classical [54, 55, 59, 60] or fuUy quantum mechanical approaches [61]. Real time propagation of the TDDFT excited states [62] has... 

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