Time-dependent variational principle states

In recent years, these methods have been greatly expanded and have reached a degree of reliability where they now offer some of the most accurate tools for studying excited and ionized states. In particular, the use of time-dependent variational principles have allowed the much more rigorous development of equations for energy differences and nonlinear response properties [81]. In addition, the extension of the EOM theory to include coupled-cluster reference fiuictioiis [ ] now allows one to compute excitation and ionization energies using some of the most accurate ab initio tools. 

Obviously, the BO or the adiabatic states only serve as a basis, albeit a useful basis if they are determined accurately, for such evolving states, and one may ask whether another, less costly, basis could be Just as useful. The electron nuclear dynamics (END) theory [1-4] treats the simultaneous dynamics of electrons and nuclei and may be characterized as a time-dependent, fully nonadiabatic approach to direct dynamics. The END equations that approximate the time-dependent Schrddinger equation are derived by employing the time-dependent variational principle (TDVP). 

MIXED STATE TIME-DEPENDENT VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE... 

Conventional presentaticsis of DFT start with pure states but sooner w later encounter mixed states and d sities (ensemble densities is the usual formulation in the DFT literature) as well. These arise, for example in formation or breaking of chemical bonds and in treatments of so-called static correlation (situations in which several different one-electron configurations are nearly degenerate). Much of the DFT literature treats these problems by extension and generalization from pure state, closed shell system results. A more inclusively systematic treatment is preferable. Therefore, the first task is to obtain the Time-Dependent Variational Principle (TDVP) in a form which includes mixed states. 

To properly describe electronic rearrangement and its dependence on both nuclear positions and velocities, it is necessary to develop a time-dependent theory of the electronic dynamics in molecular systems. A very useful approximation in this regard is the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation (34). Its combination with the eikonal treatment has been called the Eik/TDHF approximation, and has been implemented for ion-atom collisions.(21, 35-37) Approximations can be systematically developed from time-dependent variational principles.(38-41) These can be stated for wavefunctions and lead to differential equations for time-dependent parameters present in trial wavefunctions. 

Wigner rotation/adiabatic-to-diabatic transformation matrices, 92 Electronic structure theory, electron nuclear dynamics (END) structure and properties, 326-327 theoretical background, 324-325 time-dependent variational principle (TDVP), general nuclear dynamics, 334-337 Electronic wave function, permutational symmetry, 680-682 Electron nuclear dynamics (END) degenerate states chemistry, xii-xiii direct molecular dynamics, structure and properties, 327 molecular systems, 337-351 final-state analysis, 342-349 intramolecular electron transfer,... 

The scheme we employ uses a Cartesian laboratory system of coordinates which avoids the spurious small kinetic and Coriolis energy terms that arise when center of mass coordinates are used. However, the overall translational and rotational degrees of freedom are still present. The unconstrained coupled dynamics of all participating electrons and atomic nuclei is considered explicitly. The particles move under the influence of the instantaneous forces derived from the Coulombic potentials of the system Hamiltonian and the time-dependent system wave function. The time-dependent variational principle is used to derive the dynamical equations for a given form of time-dependent system wave function. The choice of wave function ansatz and of sets of atomic basis functions are the limiting approximations of the method. Wave function parameters, such as molecular orbital coefficients, z,(f), average nuclear positions and momenta, and Pfe(0, etc., carry the time dependence and serve as the dynamical variables of the method. Therefore, the parameterization of the system wave function is important, and we have found that wave functions expressed as generalized coherent states are particularly useful. A minimal implementation of the method [16,17] employs a wave function of the form ... 

The END theory was proposed in 1988 [11] as a general approach to deal with time-dependent non-adiabatic processes in quantum chemistry. We have applied the END method to the study of time-dependent processes in energy loss [12-16]. The END method takes advantage of a coherent state representation of the molecular wave function. A quantum mechanical Lagrangian formulation is employed to approximate the Schrodinger equation, via the time-dependent variational principle, by a set of coupled first-order differential equations in time to describe the END. 

It is possible that a slight improvement in the treatment of the nuclear motion, based on the time-dependent variational principle, will accurately predict the interference signal on the short timescale necessary to observe geometric phase development, without suffering the instabilities of the locally quadratic method [36, 37]. Such an improvement may come at the cost of describing the excited state wave function as a superposition of... 

As is well-known, the time-dependent variational principle (TDVP) applied to the quantum mechanics action, when fully general variations in state vector space are possible, yields the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. However, when the variations take place in a limited space determined by the choice of an approximate form of wavefunction the result is a set of coupled first-order differentiS equations that govern the time-evolution of the wavefunction parameters (27). 

A. C. Diz, Electron Nuclear Dynamics A Theoretical Treatment Using Coherent States and the Time-Dependent Variational Principle, PhD thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 1992. 

Let us assume that at r = 0 the wave function If is given in MCTDH form, i.e., given by equation (16). (The question of how to define and generate an initial-state wave function is addressed below.) We want to propagate If while preserving its MCTDH form. As was done above, we derive first-order differential equations (equations of motion) for A and by employing the time-dependent variational principle equation (5). But before doing so, we partition the Hamiltonian H into a separable and residual part ... 

This part introduces variational principles relevant to the quantum mechanics of bound stationary states. Chapter 4 covers well-known variational theory that underlies modern computational methodology for electronic states of atoms and molecules. Extension to condensed matter is deferred until Part III, since continuum theory is part of the formal basis of the multiple scattering theory that has been developed for applications in this subfield. Chapter 5 develops the variational theory that underlies independent-electron models, now widely used to transcend the practical limitations of direct variational methods for large systems. This is extended in Chapter 6 to time-dependent variational theory in the context of independent-electron models, including linear-response theory and its relationship to excitation energies. 

A totally different point of view is proposed by Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory [211-215] (TD-DFT). This important extension of DFT is based on the Runge-Gross theorem [216]. It extends the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem to time-dependent situations and states that there is a one to one map between the time-dependent external potential t>ea t(r, t) and the time-dependent charge density n(r, t) (provided we know the system wavefunction at t = —oo). Although it is linked to a stationary principle for the system action, its demonstration does not rely on any variational principle but on a step by step construction of the charge current. 

The picture here is of uncoupled Gaussian functions roaming over the PES, driven by classical mechanics. The coefficients then add the quantum mechanics, building up the nuclear wavepacket from the Gaussian basis set. This makes the treatment of non-adiabatic effects simple, as the coefficients are driven by the Hamiltonian matrices, and these elements couple basis functions on different surfaces, allowing hansfer of population between the states. As a variational principle was used to derive these equations, the coefficients describe the time dependence of the wavepacket as accurately as possible using the given... 

At the risk of being redundant, we may state here the salient features of the TD-functional formalism. The first requirement is a variational principle, and for a time-dependent quantum description only a stationary action principle is available. With this a mapping theorem is established which turns the action functional into a functional of relevant physical quantities (which are the expectation values), and the condition of stationarity is now in terms of these variables instead of the entire density matrix. Thus the stationary property with respect to the density matrix now becomes one with respect to all the variables... 

It has been shown that the principle of stationary action for a stationary state applies to a system bounded at infinity and to one bounded by a surface of zero flux in Vp(r). It is demonstrated in Chapter 8, through a variation of the action integral, that the same boundary conditions are obtained in the general time-dependent case. One may seek the most general solution to the problem of defining an open system by asking for the set of all possible subsystems to which the principle of stationary action is applicable. Thus, one must consider the variation of the energy functional f2 3 defined as... 

The principle of least action, 8A = 0 for a particular choice of system state vector li/r), yields the equations that describe the system dynamics. In the case of a state vector that can explore the entire Hilbert space, the stationarity of the action yields the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. For any approximate family of state vectors this procedure yields an equation that approximates the time-dependent Schrodinger equation in a manner that is variationally optimal for the particular choice of state vector form. 

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