Variational principle molecular spectroscopy

Since its eigenvalues correspond to the allowed energy states of a quantum-mechanical system, the time-independent Schrodinger equation plays an important role in the theoretical foundation of atomic and molecular spectroscopy. For cases of chemical interest, the equation is always easy to write down but impossible to solve exactly. Approximation techniques are needed for the application of quantum mechanics to atoms and molecules. The purpose of this subsection is to outline two distinct procedures—the variational principle and perturbation theory— that form the theoretical basis for most methods used to approximate solutions to the Schrodinger equation. Although some tangible connections are made with ideas of quantum chemistry and the independent-particle approximation, the presentation in the next two sections (and example problem) is intended to be entirely general so that the scope of applicability of these approaches is not underestimated by the reader. 

The electronic state calculation by discrete variational (DV) Xa molecular orbital method is introduced to demonstrate the usefulness for theoretical analysis of electron and x-ray spectroscopies, as well as electron energy loss spectroscopy. For the evaluation of peak energy. Slater s transition state calculation is very efficient to include the orbital relaxation effect. The effects of spin polarization and of relativity are argued and are shown to be important in some cases. For the estimation of peak intensity, the first-principles calculation of dipole transition probability can easily be performed by the use of DV numerical integration scheme, to provide very good correspondence with experiment. The total density of states (DOS) or partial DOS is also useful for a rough estimation of the peak intensity. In addition, it is necessary lo use the realistic model cluster for the quantitative analysis. The... 

Molecular photophysics, especially the use of steady-state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy, have many important applications and there has been a progressive emergence of a new field of analytical chemistry based on these principles. It has been known for many decades that the excited state properties of certain molecules are highly sensitive to the local environment but it is only recently that a concerted effort has been made to use this sensitivity in a practical way. The main approaches to employing variations in photophysical properties as an analytical tool can be divided into two areas namely, (i) development of luminescent probes that respond to changes in the environment and (ii) identification of molecular systems for which the emission... 

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