Modeling vibrational dephasing and energy relaxation of intramolecular anharmonic modes for multidimensional infrared spectroscopies

Discretized hierarchical equations of motion in mixed Liouville-Wigner space for two-dimensional vibrational spectroscopies of liquid water

A model of a bulk water system describing the vibrational motion of intramolecular and intermolecular modes is constructed, enabling analysis of its linear and nonlinear vibrational spectra as well as the energy transfer processes between the vibrational modes. The model is described as a system of four interacting anharmonic oscillators nonlinearly coupled to their respective heat baths. To perform a rigorous numerical investigation of the non-Markovian and nonperturbative quantum dissipative dynamics of the model, we derive discretized hierarchical equations of motion in mixed Liouville-Wigner space, with Lagrange-Hermite mesh discretization being employed in the Liouville space of the intramolecular modes and Lagrange-Hermite mesh discretization and Hermite discretization in the Wigner space of the intermolecular modes. One-dimensional infrared and Raman spectra and two-dimensional terahertz-infrared-visible and infrared-infrared-Raman spectra are computed as demonstrations of the quantum dissipative description provided by our model.

2D electronic-vibrational spectroscopy with classical trajectories

Two-dimensional electronic-vibrational (2DEV) spectra have the capacity to probe electron–nuclear interactions in molecules by measuring correlations between initial electronic excitations and vibrational transitions at a later time. The trajectory-based semiclassical optimized mean trajectory approach is applied to compute 2DEV spectra for a system with excitonically coupled electronic excited states vibronically coupled to a chromophore vibration. The chromophore mode is in turn coupled to a bath, inducing redistribution of vibrational populations. The lineshapes and delay-time dynamics of the resulting spectra compare well with benchmark calculations, both at the level of the observable and with respect to contributions from distinct spectroscopic processes.

Two-dimensional vibronic spectroscopy with semiclassical thermofield dynamics

Thermofield dynamics is an exactly correct formulation of quantum mechanics at finite temperature in which a wavefunction is governed by an effective temperature-dependent quantum Hamiltonian. The optimized mean trajectory (OMT) approximation allows the calculation of spectroscopic response functions from trajectories produced by the classical limit of a mapping Hamiltonian that includes physical nuclear degrees of freedom and other effective degrees of freedom representing discrete vibronic states. Here, we develop a thermofield OMT (TF-OMT) approach in which the OMT procedure is applied to a temperature-dependent classical Hamiltonian determined from the thermofield-transformed quantum mapping Hamiltonian. Initial conditions for bath nuclear degrees of freedom are sampled from a zero-temperature distribution. Calculations of two-dimensional electronic spectra and two-dimensional vibrational–electronic spectra are performed for models that include excitonically coupled electronic states. The TF-OMT calculations agree very closely with the corresponding OMT results, which, in turn, represent well benchmark calculations with the hierarchical equations of motion method.

Calculating Multidimensional Optical Spectra from Classical Trajectories

Multidimensional optical spectra are measured from the response of a material system to a sequence of laser pulses and have the capacity to elucidate specific molecular interactions and dynamics whose influences are absent or obscured in a conventional linear absorption spectrum. Interpretation of complex spectra is supported by theoretical modeling of the spectroscopic observable, requiring implementation of quantum dynamics for coupled electrons and nuclei. Performing numerically correct quantum dynamics in this context may pose computational challenges, particularly in the condensed phase. Semiclassical methods based on calculating classical trajectories offer a practical alternative. Here I review the recent application of some semiclassical, trajectory-based methods to nonlinear molecular vibrational and electronic spectra.

Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Volume 73 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Computational spectroscopy of complex systems

Numerous linear and non-linear spectroscopic techniques have been developed to elucidate structural and functional information of complex systems ranging from natural systems, such as proteins and light-harvesting systems, to synthetic systems, such as solar cell materials and light-emitting diodes. The obtained experimental data can be challenging to interpret due to the complexity and potential overlapping spectral signatures. Therefore, computational spectroscopy plays a crucial role in the interpretation and understanding of spectral observables of complex systems. Computational modeling of various spectroscopic techniques has seen significant developments in the past decade, when it comes to the systems that can be addressed, the size and complexity of the sample types, the accuracy of the methods, and the spectroscopic techniques that can be addressed. In this Perspective, I will review the computational spectroscopy methods that have been developed and applied for infrared and visible spectroscopies in the condensed phase. I will discuss some of the questions that this has allowed answering. Finally, I will discuss current and future challenges and how these may be addressed.

Optical response of laser-driven charge-transfer complex described by Holstein-Hubbard model coupled to heat baths: Hierarchical equations of motion approach

We investigate the optical response of a charge-transfer complex in a condensed phase driven by an external laser field. Our model includes an instantaneous short-range Coulomb interaction and a local optical vibrational mode described by the Holstein-Hubbard (HH) model. Although characterization of the HH model for a bulk system has typically been conducted using a complex phase diagram, this approach is not sufficient for investigations of dynamical behavior at finite temperature, in particular for studies of nonlinear optical properties, where the time irreversibility of the dynamics that arises from the environment becomes significant. We therefore include heat baths with infinite heat capacity in the model to introduce thermal effects characterized by fluctuation and dissipation to the system dynamics. By reducing the number of degrees of freedom of the heat baths, we derive numerically "exact" hierarchical equations of motion for the reduced density matrix of the HH system. As demonstrations, we calculate the optical response of the system in two- and four-site cases under external electric fields. The results indicate that the effective strength of the system-bath coupling becomes large as the number of sites increases. Excitation of electrons promotes the conductivity when the Coulomb repulsion is equivalent to or dominates the electron-phonon coupling, whereas excitation of optical vibrations always suppresses the conductivity.

Open Quantum System Response from the Hierarchy of Pure States

The spectral properties of a quantum system are essential when probing theoretical predictions against experimental data. For an open quantum system strongly interacting with its environment, spectral features are challenging to calculate. Here we demonstrate that the stochastic Hierarchy of Pure States (HOPS) approach is well suited to calculate the response of an open quantum system to a, possibly strong, coherent probe driving. For weak driving, where Kubo's linear response theory is applicable, it turns out that the HOPS method is highly efficient since fluctuations inherent to the stochastic dynamics cancel for the response function and, thus, allow us to obtain the susceptibility easily. Our results are in agreement with experimental data for a strongly damped spin system showing that the transition from oscillatory to overdamped motion is also reflected by the transmission spectrum. As a further application we demonstrate that the susceptibility, quantifying the amplitude of the response, as a function of temperature exhibits a maximum which is the hallmark of stochastic resonance. Beyond the linear regime, the exact open system dynamics shows the asymptotic Floquet state. We use the topic of probe driving and response to present the HOPS approach in a novel and self-contained way. This includes the importance sampling scheme which yields the nonlinear HOPS as well as the stochastic treatment of a thermal initial environmental state within the zero temperature formalism. Special attention is given to the exponential representation of the algebraic Ohmic bath correlation function and the truncation condition for the hierarchy.

Anharmonic Phonon Dispersion in Polyethylene

The second-order Green's function method for anharmonic crystals has been applied to an infinite, periodic chain of polyethylene taking into account up to quartic force constants. The frequency-independent approximation to the Dyson self-energy gives rise to numerous divergent resonances, which are fortuitous. Instead, solving the Dyson equation self-consistently with a frequency-dependent self-energy resists divergences from resonances or zero-frequency acoustic vibrations. The calculated anharmonic phonon dispersion, which nonetheless displays many true resonances, and anharmonic phonon density of states furnish hitherto unknown details that explain smaller features of observed vibrational spectra.

Energy Transfer across Nonpolar and Polar Contacts in Proteins: Role of Contact Fluctuations

Molecular dynamics simulations of the villin headpiece subdomain HP36 have been carried out to examine relations between rates of vibrational energy transfer across non-covalently bonded contacts and equilibrium structural fluctuations, with focus on van der Waals contacts. Rates of energy transfer across van der Waals contacts vary inversely with the variance of the contact length, with the same constant of proportionality for all nonpolar contacts of HP36. A similar relation is observed for hydrogen bonds, but the proportionality depends on contact pairs, with hydrogen bonds stabilizing the α-helices all exhibiting the same constant of proportionality, one that is distinct from those computed for other polar contacts. Rates of energy transfer across van der Waals contacts are found to be up to 2 orders of magnitude smaller than rates of energy transfer across polar contacts.

On the exact truncation tier of fermionic hierarchical equations of motion

The hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) theory is in principle exact for describing the dissipative dynamics of quantum systems linearly coupled to Gaussian environments. In practice, the hierarchy needs to be truncated at a finite tier. We demonstrate that, for general systems described by the fermionic HEOM, the (n+L̃)th-tier truncation with L̃=2N_σN_ν yields the exact density operators up to the nth tier. Here, N_σ = 2 for fermionic systems and N_ν is the system degrees of freedom. For noninteracting systems, L̃ is further reduced by half. Such an exact termination pattern originates from the Pauli exclusion principle for fermions, and it holds true regardless of the system-environment coupling strength, the number of coupling reservoirs, or the specific scheme employed to unravel the environment memory contents. The relatively small L̃ emphasizes the nonperturbative nature of the HEOM theory. We also propose a simplified HEOM approach to further reduce the memory cost for practical calculations.

Exciton-Coupled Electron Transfer Process Controlled by Non-Markovian Environments

We theoretically investigate an exciton-coupled electron transfer (XCET) process that is conversion of an exciton into a charge transfer state. This conversion happens in an exciton transfer (XT) process, and the electron moves away in an electron transfer (ET) process in multiple environments (baths). This XCET process plays an essential role in the harvesting of solar energy in biological and photovoltaic materials. We develop a practical theoretical model to study the efficiency of the XCET process that occurs either in consecutive or concerted processes under the influence of non-Markovian baths. The role of quantum coherence in the XT-ET system and the baths is investigated using reduced hierarchal equations of motion (HEOM). This model includes independent baths for each XT and ET state, in addition to a XCET bath for the conversion process. We found that, while quantum system-bath coherence is important in the XT and ET processes, coherence between the XT and ET processes must be suppressed in order to realize that an efficient irreversible XCET process through the weak off-diagonal interaction between the XT and ET bridge sites arises from an XCET bath.

An extension of stochastic hierarchy equations of motion for the equilibrium correlation functions

A traditional stochastic hierarchy equations of motion method is extended into the correlated real-time and imaginary-time propagations, in this paper, for its applications in calculating the equilibrium correlation functions. The central idea is based on a combined employment of stochastic unravelling and hierarchical techniques for the temperature-dependent and temperature-free parts of the influence functional, respectively, in the path integral formalism of the open quantum systems coupled to a harmonic bath. The feasibility and validity of the proposed method are justified in the emission spectra of homodimer compared to those obtained through the deterministic hierarchy equations of motion. Besides, it is interesting to find that the complex noises generated from a small portion of real-time and imaginary-time cross terms can be safely dropped to produce the stable and accurate position and flux correlation functions in a broad parameter regime.

Simulating signatures of two-dimensional electronic spectra of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex: By using a numerical path integral

A framework for simulating electronic spectra from photon-echo experiments is constructed by using a numerical path integral technique. This method is non-Markovian and nonperturbative and, more importantly, is not limited by a fixed form of the spectral density functions of the environment. Next, a two-dimensional (2D) third-order electronic spectrum of a dimer system is simulated. The spectrum is in agreement with the experimental and theoretical results previously reported [for example, M. Khalil, N. Demirdöven, and A. Tokmakoff, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 047401 (2003)]. Finally, a 2D third-order electronic spectrum of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex is simulated by using the Debye, Ohmic, and Adolphs and Renger spectral density functions. It is shown that this method can clearly produce the spectral signatures of the FMO complex by using only the Adolphs and Renger spectral density function. Plots of the evolution of the diagonal and cross-peaks show that they are oscillating with the population time.

Thermal weights for semiclassical vibrational response functions

Semiclassical approximations to response functions can allow the calculation of linear and nonlinear spectroscopic observables from classical dynamics. Evaluating a canonical response function requires the related tasks of determining thermal weights for initial states and computing the dynamics of these states. A class of approximations for vibrational response functions employs classical trajectories at quantized values of action variables and represents the effects of the radiation-matter interaction by discontinuous transitions. Here, we evaluate choices for a thermal weight function which are consistent with this dynamical approximation. Weight functions associated with different semiclassical approximations are compared, and two forms are constructed which yield the correct linear response function for a harmonic potential at any temperature and are also correct for anharmonic potentials in the classical mechanical limit of high temperature. Approximations to the vibrational linear response function with quantized classical trajectories and proposed thermal weight functions are assessed for ensembles of one-dimensional anharmonic oscillators. This approach is shown to perform well for an anharmonic potential that is not locally harmonic over a temperature range encompassing the quantum limit of a two-level system and the limit of classical dynamics.

Dynamics of a One-Dimensional Holstein Polaron with the Hierarchical Equations of Motion Approach

Dynamics of a one-dimensional Holstein molecular crystal model is investigated by making use of the hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) introduced by Tanimura and Kubo [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 1989, 104, 101]. Our extended, numerically exact HEOM approach is capable of treating exciton-phonon coupling in a nonperturbative manner and is applicable to any temperature. It is revealed that strong exciton phonon coupling leads to excitonic localization, while a large exciton transfer integral facilitates exciton transport. Temperature effects on excitonic scattering have also been examined. A proof of concept, our work also serves as a benchmark for future comparisons with other numerical approaches to Holstein polaron dynamics.

Two-Dimensional Vibrational Spectroscopy of a Dissipative System with the Optimized Mean-Trajectory Approximation

The optimized mean-trajectory (OMT) approximation is a semiclassical method for computing vibrational response functions from action-quantized classical trajectories connected by discrete transitions representing radiation-matter interactions. Here we apply this method to an anharmonic chromophore coupled to a harmonic bath. A forward-backward trajectory implementation of the OMT method is described that addresses the numerical challenges of applying the OMT to large systems with disparate frequency scales. The OMT is shown to well reproduce line shapes and waiting time dynamics in the pure dephasing limit of weak coupling to an off-resonant bath. The OMT is also shown to describe a case where energy transfer is the predominant source of line broadening.

Vibrational coherence and energy transfer in two-dimensional spectra with the optimized mean-trajectory approximation

The optimized mean-trajectory (OMT) approximation is a semiclassical method for computing vibrational response functions from action-quantized classical trajectories connected by discrete transitions that represent radiation-matter interactions. Here, we extend the OMT to include additional vibrational coherence and energy transfer processes. This generalized approximation is applied to a pair of anharmonic chromophores coupled to a bath. The resulting 2D spectra are shown to reflect coherence transfer between normal modes.

Quantum speed limits in open systems: non-Markovian dynamics without rotating-wave approximation

We derive an easily computable quantum speed limit (QSL) time bound for open systems whose initial states can be chosen as either pure or mixed states. Moreover, this QSL time is applicable to either Markovian or non-Markovian dynamics. By using of a hierarchy equation method, we numerically study the QSL time bound in a qubit system interacting with a single broadened cavity mode without rotating-wave, Born and Markovian approximation. By comparing with rotating-wave approximation (RWA) results, we show that the counter-rotating terms are helpful to increase evolution speed. The problem of non-Markovianity is also considered. We find that for non-RWA cases, increasing system-bath coupling can not always enhance the non-Markovianity, which is qualitatively different from the results with RWA. When considering the relation between QSL and non-Markovianity, we find that for small broadening widths of the cavity mode, non-Markovianity can increase the evolution speed in either RWA or non-RWA cases, while, for larger broadening widths, it is not true for non-RWA cases.