Second-derivative

In fig. 2 an ideal profile across a pipe is simulated. The unsharpness of the exposure rounds the edges. To detect these edges normally a differentiation is used. Edges are extrema in the second derivative. But a twofold numerical differentiation reduces the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of experimental data considerably. To avoid this a special filter procedure is used as known from Computerised Tomography (CT) /4/. This filter based on Fast Fourier transforms (1 dimensional FFT s) calculates a function like a second derivative based on the first derivative of the profile P (r) ... 

The filter according equation (1) allows a practical application of a second derivative, because it has only the noise amplification like a first derivative. This is shown in fig. 3 on a experimental data set. The SNR of the true second derivative is too low for correct edge detection, whereas the CT filter gives reliable results. 

This ensures that (]) (r) = for r> after the wavefiinctions have been nomialized. (2) The pseudo-wavefunction should be continuous and have continuous first and second derivatives at r An example of a... 

Phase transitions at which the entropy and enthalpy are discontinuous are called first-order transitions because it is the first derivatives of the free energy that are disconthuious. (The molar volume V= (d(i/d p) j is also discontinuous.) Phase transitions at which these derivatives are continuous but second derivatives of G... 

At s = 0 this derivative obviously vanishes for all temperatures, but this is simply a result of the synnnetry. The second derivative is another matter ... 

Flere, is the static polarizability, a is the change in polarizability as a fiinction of the vibrational coordinate, a" is the second derivative of the polarizability with respect to vibration and so on. As is usually the case, it is possible to truncate this series after the second tenn. As before, the electric field is = EQCOslnvQt, where Vq is the frequency of the light field. Thus we have... 

One group has successfiilly obtained infonnation about potential energy surfaces without measuring REPs. Instead, easily measured second derivative absorption profiles are obtained and linked to the fiill RRS spectrum taken at a single incident frequency. In this way, the painstaking task of measuring a REP is replaced by carefiilly recording the second derivative of the electronic absorption spectrum of the resonant transition [, 59],... 

Mantini A R, Marzocchi M P and Smulevich G 1989 Raman excitation profiles and second-derivative absorption spectra of beta-carotene J. Chem. Phys. 91 85-91... 

The gradient and second derivative components of the SCF energy can be expressed for both kinds of parametrization (see [28]) as... 

The second tenn in equation B3.5.11 deserves connnent. This tenn shows that Hessian (second-derivative) matrices... 

Therefore, the locus of the values ( ) with a vanishing second derivative of A delimits the region of the miscibility gap in which spinodal decomposition occurs. This locus is referred to as the spinodal (figure C2.1.10 (bl). The length scale of the concentration fluctuations at the beginning of the separation process is controlled by... 

D. Second-Derivative Coupling Matrix TIT. Adiabatic-to-Diabatic Transformation... 

Requiring l/f (r qx) to be real, the matrix W (Rx) becomes real and skew-symmetiic (just like its adiabatic counterpart) with diagonal elements equal to zero. Similarly, W (Rx) is an n X u diabatic second-derivative coupling matrix with elements defined by... 

Fig re 5. Second-derivative coupling term defined at the end of Section TTI.D for... 

Since the second-derivative coupling matrix is only an additive teiin in Eq. (87), we can merge it with the diabatic energy matrix and define a 2 x 2 diabatic matrix... 

Techniques have been developed within the CASSCF method to characterize the critical points on the excited-state PES. Analytic first and second derivatives mean that minima and saddle points can be located using traditional energy optimization procedures. More importantly, intersections can also be located using constrained minimization [42,43]. Of particular interest for the mechanism of a reaction is the minimum energy path (MEP), defined as the line followed by a classical particle with zero kinetic energy [44-46]. Such paths can be calculated using intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) techniques... 

A different approach comes from the idea, first suggested by Flelgaker et al. [77], of approximating the PES at each point by a harmonic model. Integration within an area where this model is appropriate, termed the trust radius, is then trivial. Normal coordinates, Q, are defined by diagonalization of the mass-weighted Flessian (second-derivative) matrix, so if... 

The Helgaker-Chen algorithm results in very large steps being possible, and despite the extra cost of the required second derivatives, this is the method of choice for direct dynamics calculations. A number of systems have been treated, and a review of the method as applied to chemical reactions is given in [2]. 

Importantly for direct dynamics calculations, analytic gradients for MCSCF methods [124-126] are available in many standard quantum chemistiy packages. This is a big advantage as numerical gradients require many evaluations of the wave function. The evaluation of the non-Hellmann-Feynman forces is the major effort, and requires the solution of what are termed the coupled-perturbed MCSCF (CP-MCSCF) equations. The large memory requirements of these equations can be bypassed if a direct method is used [233]. Modem computer architectures and codes then make the evaluation of first and second derivatives relatively straightforward in this theoretical framework. 

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