Surfaces wavefunctions

Bardeen considers two separate subsystems first. The electronic states of the separated subsystems are obtained by solving the stationary Schrodinger equations. For many practical systems, those solutions are known. The rate of transferring an electron from one electrode to another is calculated using time-dependent perturbation theory. As a result, Bardeen showed that the amplitude of electron transfer, or the tunneling matrix element M, is determined by the overlap of the surface wavefunctions of the two subsystems at a separation surface (the choice of the separation surface does not affect the results appreciably). In other words, Bardeen showed that the tunneling matrix element M is determined by a surface integral on a separation surface between the two electrodes, z = zo. 

Surface states on d band metals and semiconductors are important examples of surface wavefunctions, which may dominate the tunneling current. On many metal surfaces, the tails of the bulk states dominate. For example, on the surfaces of Pt and Ir, the tails of the bulk states dominate -he wavefunctions at surfaces, and can be represented with reasonable accuracy as linear combinations of atomic states (LCAO). 

In this chapter, we discuss the images of perfect crystalline surfaces. First, wc present the analytic method for handling surface wavefunctions —... 

Near the Fermi level, the surface wavefunctions in the vacuum region satisfy the Schrodinger equation in the vacuum ... 

According to the derivative rule, the tunneling matrix element for surface wavefunction at F from a p, tip state is identical to that from a spherical tip state. However, for a surface wavefunction at K, the tunneling matrix element from a p, tip state is ... 

In words, equation (Al.6.89) is saying that the second-order wavefunction is obtained by propagating the initial wavefunction on the ground-state surface until time t", at which time it is excited up to the excited state, upon which it evolves until it is returned to the ground state at time t, where it propagates until time t. NRT stands for non-resonant tenn it is obtained by and cOj -f-> -cOg, and its physical interpretation is... 

Our intention is to give a brief survey of advanced theoretical methods used to detennine the electronic and geometric stmcture of solids and surfaces. The electronic stmcture encompasses the energies and wavefunctions (and other properties derived from them) of the electronic states in solids, while the geometric stmcture refers to the equilibrium atomic positions. Quantities that can be derived from the electronic stmcture calculations include the electronic (electron energies, charge densities), vibrational (phonon spectra), stmctiiral (lattice constants, equilibrium stmctiires), mechanical (bulk moduli, elastic constants) and optical (absorption, transmission) properties of crystals. We will also report on teclmiques used to study solid surfaces, with particular examples drawn from chemisorption on transition metal surfaces. 

Figure B3.4.16. A generic example of crossing 2D potential surfaces. Note that, upon rotating around the conic intersection point, the phase of the wavefunction need not return to its original value.

It seems that surface hopping (also called Molecular Dynamics with Quantum Transitions, MDQT) is a rather heavy tool to simulate proton dynamics. A recent and promising development is path integral centroid dynamics [123] that provides approximate dynamics of the centroid of the wavefunctions. Several improvements and applications have been published [123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128). 

The essence of this analysis involves being able to write each wavefunction as a combination of determinants each of which involves occupancy of particular spin-orbitals. Because different spin-orbitals interact differently with, for example, a colliding molecule, the various determinants will interact differently. These differences thus give rise to different interaction potential energy surfaces. 

The surface certainly requires a two configuration Cl wavefunction the a a npx (7i2py2spx) and the a n pxa (ti s pxPz). The Ai surface could use the a a n (n s py ) only but once again there is no combination of D determinants which gives purely this configuration (n s py ). Thus mixing of both D and determinants are necessary to... 

The Isodensity PCM (IPCM) model defines the cavity as an isodensity surface of the molecule. This isodensity is determined by an iterative process in which an SCF cycle is performed and converged using the current isodensity cavity. The resultant wavefunction is then used to compute an updated isodensity surface, and the cycle is repeated until the cavity shape no longer changes upon completion of the SCF. 

Solving this equation for the electronic wavefunction will produce the effective nuclear potential function It depends on the nuclear coordinates and describes the potential energy surface for the system. 

The concept of a potential energy surface has appeared in several chapters. Just to remind you, we make use of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation to separate the total (electron plus nuclear) wavefunction into a nuclear wavefunction and an electronic wavefunction. To calculate the electronic wavefunction, we regard the nuclei as being clamped in position. To calculate the nuclear wavefunction, we have to solve the relevant nuclear Schrddinger equation. The nuclei vibrate in the potential generated by the electrons. Don t confuse the nuclear Schrddinger equation (a quantum-mechanical treatment) with molecular mechanics (a classical treatment). 

Analytical gradient energy expressions have been reported for many of the standard models discussed in this book. Analytical second derivatives are also widely available. The main use of analytical gradient methods is to locate stationaiy points on potential energy surfaces. So, for example, in order to find an expression for the gradient of a closed-shell HF-LCAO wavefunction we might start with the electronic energy expression from Chapter 6,... 

The usual EVB procedure involves diagonalizing this 3x3 Hamiltonian. However, here we wish to use a very simple model for our reaction and represent the potential surface and wavefunction of the reacting system using only two electronic states. Using a two-state system will preserve most of the important features of the potential energy surface while at the same time provide a simple model that will be more amenable to discussion than the three-state system. For the two-state system we define the following states as the reactant and product wavefunctions ... 

The raw output of a molecular structure calculation is a list of the coefficients of the atomic orbitals in each LCAO (linear combination of atomic orbitals) molecular orbital and the energies of the orbitals. The software commonly calculates dipole moments too. Various graphical representations are used to simplify the interpretation of the coefficients. Thus, a typical graphical representation of a molecular orbital uses stylized shapes (spheres for s-orbitals, for instance) to represent the basis set and then scales their size to indicate the value of the coefficient in the LCAO. Different signs of the wavefunctions are typically represented by different colors. The total electron density at any point (the sum of the squares of the occupied wavefunctions evaluated at that point) is commonly represented by an isodensity surface, a surface of constant total electron density. 

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