Theoretical study of predissociation dynamics of HCN/DCN in their first absorption bands

A time-independent, variational method for studying the photodissociation of triatomic molecules

The photodissociation of molecules is becoming an increasingly important factor to consider in the evolution of exoplanets' atmospheres orbiting around UV-rich stars, as it leads to the enrichment of atmospheric complexity. A new method is developed for computing the rotationally and vibrationally resolved photodissociation spectrum of triatomic molecules. The time-independent Schrödinger equation is solved using the variational nuclear motion program EVEREST; a new code EXOCSMOOTH is employed to compute the cross-sections by applying Gaussian smoothing to a set of discrete transitions into the continuum. HCN is chosen as the test molecule, as it has been widely studied in the literature. Results are compared with the available experiments. Temperature dependence is explored for temperatures up to 2000 K.

Pumping and probing vibrational modulated coupled electronic coherence in HCN using short UV fs laser pulses: a 2D quantum nuclear dynamical study

The coupled electronic-nuclear coherent dynamics induced by a short strong VUV fs pulse in the low excited electronic states of HCN is probed by transient absorption spectroscopy with a second weaker fs UV pulse. The nuclear time-dependent Schrodinger equation is solved on a 2D nuclear grid with several electronic states with a Hamiltonian including the dipole coupling to the pump and the probe electric fields. The two internal nuclear coordinates describe the motion of the light H atom. There is a band of several excited electronic states at about 8 eV above the ground state (GS) that is transiently accessed by the pump pulse. We tailored the pump so as to selectively populate the lowest 1A'' electronic state thereby the pulse creates an electronic coherence with the GS. Our simulations show that this electronic coherence is modulated by the nuclear motion and persists all the way to dissociation on the 1A'' state. Transient absorption spectra computed as a function of the delay time between the pump and the probe pulses provide a detailed probe of the electronic amplitude and its phase, as well as of the modulation of the electronic coherence by the nuclear motion, both bound and dissociative.

The Photodissociation of HCN and HNC: Effects on the HNC/HCN Abundance Ratio in the Interstellar Medium

The impact of the photodissociation of HCN and HNC isomers is analyzed in different astrophysical environments. For this purpose, the individual photodissociation cross section of HCN and HNC isomers have been calculated in the 7-13.6 eV photon energy range for a temperature of 10 K. These calculations are based on the ab initio calculation of three-dimensional adiabatic potential energy surfaces of the 21 lower electronic states. The cross sections are then obtained using a quantum wave packet calculation of the rotational transitions needed to simulate a rotational temperature of 10 K. The cross section calculated for HCN shows significant differences with respect to the experimental one, and this is attributed to the need of considering non-adiabatic transitions. Ratios between the photodissociation rates of HCN and HNC under different ultraviolet radiation fields have been computed by renormalizing the rates to the experimental one. It is found that HNC is photodissociated faster than HCN by a factor of 2.2, for the local interstellar radiation field, and 9.2, for the solar radiation field at 1 au. We conclude that to properly describe the HNC/HCN abundance ratio in astronomical environments illuminated by an intense ultraviolet radiation field it is necessary to use different photodissociation rates for each of the two isomers, obtained by integrating the product of the photodissociation cross sections and ultraviolet radiation field over the relevant wavelength range.

Photodissociation of HCN and HNC isomers in the 7-10 eV energy range

The ultraviolet photoabsorption spectra of the HCN and HNC isomers have been simulated in the 7-10 eV photon energy range. For this purpose, the three-dimensional adiabatic potential energy surfaces of the 7 lowest electronic states, and the corresponding transition dipole moments, have been calculated, at multireference configuration interaction level. The spectra are calculated with a quantum wave packet method on these adiabatic potential energy surfaces. The spectra for the 3 lower excited states, the dissociative electronic states, correspond essentially to predissociation peaks, most of them through tunneling on the same adiabatic state. The 3 higher electronic states are bound, hereafter electronic bound states, and their spectra consist of delta lines, in the adiabatic approximation. The radiative lifetime towards the ground electronic states of these bound states has been calculated, being longer than 10 ns in all cases, much longer that the characteristic predissociation lifetimes. The spectra of HCN is compared with the available experimental and previous theoretical simulations, while in the case of HNC there are no previous studies to our knowledge. The spectrum for HNC is considerably more intense than that of HCN in the 7-10 eV photon energy range, which points to a higher photodissociation rate for HNC, compared to HCN, in astrophysical environments illuminated by ultraviolet radiation.

State-to-state photodissociation dynamics of triatomic molecules: H2O in the B band

State-to-state photodissociation dynamics of H(2)O in its B band has been investigated quantum mechanically on a new set of non-adiabatically coupled potential energy surfaces for the lowest two (1)A' states of H(2)O, which are developed at the internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction level with the aug-cc-pVQZ basis set. Quantum dynamical calculations carried out using the Chebyshev propagator yield absorption spectra, product state distributions, branching ratios, and differential cross sections, which are in reasonably good agreement with the latest experimental results. Particular focus is placed here on the dependence of various dynamical observables on the photon energy. Detailed analyses of the dynamics have assigned the diffuse structure in absorption spectrum to short-time recurring dynamics near the HOH conical intersection. The non-adiabatic dissociation to the ground state OH product via the HOH conical intersection is facile, direct, fast, and produces rotationally hot OH(X̃) products. On the other hand, the adiabatic channel on the excited state leading to the OH(Ã) product is dominated by long-lived resonances, which depend sensitively on the potential energy surfaces.

CALCULATION OF TRANSITION AMPLITUDES WITH A SINGLE LANCZOS PROPAGATION

We review in this article a recently proposed energy-global method that is capable of calculating the entire transition amplitude matrix with a single Lanczos propagation. This method requires neither explicit computation nor storage of the eigenfunctions, rendering it extremely memory efficient. Procedures are proposed to handle situations where "spurious" eigenvalues aggregate around true eigenvalues due to round-off errors. This method is amenable to both real-symmetric and complex-symmetric Hamiltonians. Applications to molecular spectra and reactive scattering are presented. Its relationships with other methods are also discussed.

THEORETICAL STUDIES OF $\tilde{A}{}^1 A^{\prime\prime}\to\tilde{X}{}^1 A^\prime$ RESONANCE EMISSION SPECTRA OF HCN/DCN USING SINGLE LANCZOS PROPAGATION METHOD

Using an efficient single Lanczos propagation method, we report the [Formula: see text] resonance emission spectra of HCN and DCN from a number of low-lying vibrational levels of the Ã-state manifold. Our calculations represent the first such undertaking in which a high-quality ab initio based potential energy surface of the excited (Ã1 A″) state and a [Formula: see text] transition dipole surface were used. The results show a significant improvement over previous theoretical work in reproducing experimental stimulated emission pumping spectra of HCN. The improved theory-experiment agreement is attributed to the accurate Ã-state potential energy surface, while the impact of the transition dipole function was found to be relatively minor.

Multichannel scattering calculations using absorbing potentials and mapped grids

The authors investigate the use of absorbing potentials and discrete variable representation grid methods in multichannel time-independent scattering calculations. An exactly solvable, coupled-two-channel problem involving square-well potentials is used to assess the quality of numerical results. Special emphasis is given to the description of scattering resonances and near-threshold regions. Numerical treatment of close vicinities of thresholds requires the introduction of nonequidistant grids through a mapping procedure of the scattering coordinate.

Calculations of partial cross sections for photofragmentation processes using complex absorbing potentials

We investigate the use of complex absorbing potentials for the calculation of partial cross sections in multichannel photofragmentation processes. An exactly solvable, coupled-two-channel problem involving square-well potentials is used to compare the performance of various types of absorbing potentials. Special emphasis is given to the near-threshold regions and the conditions under which the numerical results are able to reproduce the Wigner threshold laws. It was found that singular, transmission-free absorbing potentials perform better than those of power or polynomial form.

Theoretical study of photoacidity of HCN: the effect of complexation with water

The character of the hydrogen bonding and the excited state proton transfer (ESPT) in the model system HCN...H(2)O is investigated. The PES of the two lowest excited states of the H(2)O...HCN complex was calculated using the CASPT2 method. The nonadiabatic coupling of the two states of the (pi-->pi*) and (pi-->sigma*) character is responsible for the excited state proton/hydrogen transfer. Compared to the ground state, the barrier for this process is significantly smaller. An increased number of water molecules in the complex with cyclic hydrogen-bonded network causes a large blue shift of the state of the (pi-->sigma*) character. The question of the dissociation of the complex in its excited state is also addressed.