Self-consistent field method time dependent

The classical-path approximation introduced above is common to most MQC formulations and describes the reaction of the quantum DoF to the dynamics of the classical DoF. The back-reaction of the quantum DoF onto the dynamics of the classical DoF, on the other hand, may be described in different ways. In the mean-field trajectory (MFT) method (which is sometimes also called Ehrenfest model, self-consistent classical-path method, or semiclassical time-dependent self-consistent-field method) considered in this section, the classical force F = pj acting on the nuclear DoF xj is given as an average over the quantum DoF... 

Recently, the effects of static and dynamic structural fluctuations on the electron hole mobility in DNA were studied using a time-dependent self-consistent field method [33]. The motion of holes was coupled to fluctuations of two step parameters of a duplex, rise and twist (Fig. 1), namely the distances and the dihedral angles between base pairs, respectively. The hole mobility in an ideally ordered poly(G)-poly(C) duplex was found to be decreased by two orders of magnitude due to twisting of base pairs and static energy disorder. A hole mobility of 0.1 cm V s was predicted for a homogeneous system the mobility of natural duplexes is expected to be much lower [33]. In this context, one can mention several theoretical studies, based on band structure approaches, to estimate the electrical conductivity of DNA [85-87]. 

R.B. Gerber and R. Alimi, Quantum molecular dynamics by a perturbation-corrected time-dependent self-consistent-field method, Chem. Phys. Lett., 184 (1991) 69. 

Volobuev YL, Hack MD, Topaler MS, Truhlar DG (2000) Continuous surface switching an improved time-dependent self-consistent-field method for nonadiabatic dynamics. J Chem Phys 112 97162... 

For the case of intramolecular energy transfer from excited vibrational states, a mixed quantum-classical treatment was given by Gerber et al. already in 1982 [101]. These authors used a time-dependent self-consistent field (TDSCF) approximation. In the classical limit of TDSCF averages over wave functions are replaced by averages over bundles of trajectories, each obtained by SCF methods. 

The goal of this chapter is twofold. First we wish to critically compare—from both a conceptional and a practical point of view—various classical and mixed quantum-classical strategies to describe non-Born-Oppenheimer dynamics. To this end. Section II introduces five multidimensional model problems, each representing a specific challenge for a classical description. Allowing for exact quantum-mechanical reference calculations, aU models have been used as benchmark problems to study approximate descriptions. In what follows, Section III describes in some detail the mean-field trajectory method and also discusses its connection to time-dependent self-consistent-field schemes. The surface-hopping method is considered in Section IV, which discusses various motivations of the ansatz as well as several variants of the implementation. Section V gives a brief account on the quantum-classical Liouville description and considers the possibility of an exact stochastic realization of its equation of motion. 

Another, purely quantum mechanical approximation is the so-called time-dependent self-consistent field (TDSCF) method. For general reviews see Kerman and Koonin (1976), Goeke and Reinhard (1982), and Negele (1982). For applications to molecular systems see, for example, Gerber and Ratner (1988a,b). In the TDSCF method the wavepacket is separated according to... 

The second part of the chapter (Section III) deals with the time-dependent self-consistent-field (TDSCF) method for studying intramolecular vibrational energy transfer in time. The focus is both on methodological aspects and on the application to models of van der Waals cluster systems, which exhibit non-RRKM type of behavior. Both Sections II and III review recent results. However, some of the examples and the theoretical aspects are presented here for the first time. 

The SCF, or mean-field, approximation does not include the effect of energy transfer processes between the modes. The Cl approach incorporates such effects in a time-independent framework, but as was noted in the previous section this method loses much of the simplicity and insight provided by the SCF model. The most natural extension of the SCF approximation that also describes energy transfer among the coupled modes in the system, and treats this effect by a mean-field approach, is the time-dependent self-consistent-field (TDSCF), or time-dependent mean-field, approximation. 

The MFT equation of motion (25) can be derived in many ways, including the WKB approximation, the eikonal method, a (semi)classical time-dependent self-consistent field ansatz, density-matrix approaches, and the classical limit of algebraic quantization. Depending on the specific approach used, slightly different MFT schemes may result. For example, the classical force can be described either by the average of the quantum force as in Eq. (25) or by the derivative of the average quantum potential. 

The frequency dependence is taken into accoimt through a mixed time-dependent method which introduces a dipole-moment factor (i.e. a polynomial of first degree in the electronic coordinates ) in a SCF-CI (Self Consistent Field with Configuration Interaction) method (3). The dipolar factor, ensuring the gauge invariance, partly simulates the molecular basis set effects and the influence of the continuum states. A part of these effects is explicitly taken into account in an extrapolation procedure which permits to circumvent the sequels of the truncation of the infinite sum-over- states. 

Most numerical methods for calculating molecular hyperpolarizability use sum over states expressions in either a time-dependent (explicitly including field dependent dispersion terms) or time-independent perturbation theory framework [13,14]. Sum over states methods require an ability to determine the excited states of the system reliably. This can become computationally demanding, especially for high order hyperpolarizabilities [15]. An alternative strategy adds a finite electric field term to the hamiltonian and computes the hyperpolarizability from the derivatives of the field dependent molecular dipole moment. Finite-field calculations use the ground state wave function only and include the influence of the field in a self-consistent manner [16]. 

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