Calculation of argon trimer rovibrational spectrum

Computation and analysis of bound vibrational spectra of the neon tetramer using row orthonormal hyperspherical coordinates

This paper presents the first implementation of the row-orthonormal hyperspherical coordinate formalism for the computation of the vibrational spectrum of a tetratomic system. The wavefunction of Ne₄ is expanded on a large basis set of hyperspherical harmonics generated numerically. This method not only provides spectra with reasonable accuracy, but also gives physical insight into the vibrational dynamics of the system. The characteristics of the spectra are related to the symmetry and localization of the wavefunction in configuration space.

Exact bound rovibrational spectra of the neon tetramer

Exact quantum dynamics calculations are performed for the bound rovibrational states of the neon tetramer (Ne₄) in its ground electronic state, using pair-wise Lennard-Jones potentials and the ScalIT suite of parallel codes. The vibrational states separate into a low-lying group mostly localized to a single potential well and a higher-energy delocalized group lying above the isomerization threshold-with such a structure serving as a testament to the "intermediate" quantum nature of the Ne₄ system. To accurately and efficiently represent both groups of states, the phase-space optimized discrete variable representation (PSO-DVR) approach was used, as implemented in the ScalIT code. The resultant 1D PSO effective potentials also shed significant light on the quantum dynamics of the system. All vibrational states were computed well up into the isomerization band and labeled up to the classical isomerization threshold-defined as the addition of the classical energy of a single bond, ϵ = 24.7 cm^-1, to the quantum ground state energy. Rovibrational energy levels for all total angular momentum values in the range J = 1-5 were also computed, treating all Coriolis coupling exactly.

Statistical properties of the rovibrational bound levels for Ar2Kr

We calculate the rovibrational bound levels with total angular momentum J = 0, 1 of ⁴⁰Ar₂⁸⁴Kr trimer using the slow variable discretization method combined with the finite-element method-discrete variable representation basis. The statistical distributions of the rovibrational levels for J^Π=0^e, 1^e, and 1^o symmetries are presented and the effects of the Axilrod-Teller potential term are considered. For the 0^e and 1^e symmetries, the Axilrod-Teller term makes the spectra become fully chaotic. However, for the 1^o symmetry, statistical properties depend mainly on the coupling between K = 0 and K = 1 and the Axilrod-Teller term has a small effect.

Photoabsorption spectrum of helium trimer cation--theoretical modeling

The photoabsorption spectrum of He3(+) is calculated for two semiempirical models of intracluster interactions and compared with available experimental data reported in the middle UV range [H. Haberland and B. von Issendorff, J. Chem. Phys. 102, 8773 (1995)]. Nuclear delocalization effects are investigated via several approaches comprising quantum samplings using either exact or approximate (harmonic) nuclear wavefunctions, as well as classical samplings based on the Monte Carlo methodology. Good agreement with the experiment is achieved for the model by Knowles et al., [Mol. Phys. 85, 243 (1995); Mol. Phys. 87, 827 (1996)] whereas the model by Calvo et al., [J. Chem. Phys. 135, 124308 (2011)] exhibits non-negligible deviations from the experiment. Predictions of far UV absorption spectrum of He3(+), for which no experimental data are presently available, are reported for both models and compared to each other as well as to the photoabsorption spectrum of He2(+). A simple semiempirical point-charge approximation for calculating transition probabilities is shown to perform well for He3(+).

ROVIBRATIONAL BOUND STATES OF THE Ar2Ne COMPLEX

We report exact quantum dynamics calculations of the eigenstate energy levels for the bound rovibrational states of the Ar2Ne complex, across the range of J values for which such states are observed (J = 0–35). All calculations have been carried out using the ScalIT suite of parallel codes. These codes employ a combination of highly efficient methods, including phase-space optimized discrete variable representation, optimal separable basis, and preconditioned inexact spectral transform (PIST) methods, together with an effective massive parallelization scheme. The Ar2Ne energy levels were computed using a pair-wise Aziz potential plus a three-body correction, in Jacobi co-ordinates. Effective potentials for the radial co-ordinates are constructed, which reveal important physical insight into the two distinct dissociation pathways, Ar2Ne → NeAr + Ar and Ar2Ne → Ar2 + Ne . A calculation of the bound vibrational (J = 0) levels, computed using the Tang–Toennies potential, is also performed for comparison with results from the previous literature.

Theoretical modeling of ionization energies of argon clusters: nuclear delocalization effects

Temperature dependence of vertical ionization energies is modeled for small argon clusters (N ≤ 13) using classical parallel-tempering Monte Carlo methods and extended interaction models based on the diatomics-in-molecules approach. Quantum effects at the zero temperature are also discussed in terms of zero-point nuclear vibrations, either at the harmonic approximation level or at the fully anharmonic level using the diffusion Monte Carlo calculations. Both approaches lead to a considerable improvement of the theoretical predictions of argon clusters ionization energies and represent a realistic way of modeling of ionization energies for weakly bound and floppy complexes in general. A thorough comparison with a recent electron-impact experiment [O. Echt et al., J. Chem. Phys. 123, 084313 (2005)] is presented and a novel interpretation of the experimental data is proposed.

Vibrational spectrum of Ar3(+) and relative importance of linear and perpendicular isomers in its photodissociation

The photodissociation dynamics of the argon ionized trimer Ar(3)(+) is revisited in the light of recent experimental results of Lepère et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 134, 194301 (2009)], which show that the fragment with little kinetic energy is always a neutral one, thus the available energy is shared by a neutral and ionic fragments as in Ar(2)(+). We show that these results can be interpreted as the photodissociation of the linear isomer of the system. We perform a 3D quantum computation of the vibrational spectrum of the system and study the relative populations of the linear (trimer-core) and perpendicular (dimer-core) isomers. We then show that the charge initially located on the central atom in the ground electronic state of the linear isomer migrates toward the extreme ones in the photoexcitation process such that photodissociation of the linear isomer produces a neutral central atom at rest in agreement with measured product state distributions.

Eigen energies and the statistical distributions of the rovibrational levels of the bosonic van der Waals argon trimer

The eigen energies and the statistical distributions of the rovibrational levels (J = 0-2) of the bosonic van der Waals argon trimer were calculated using a full angular momentum three-dimensional finite element method. The influence of interatomic potentials on the vibrational levels and statistical properties of the trimer was discussed.

The H(3) (+) rovibrational spectrum revisited with a global electronic potential energy surface

In this paper, we have computed the rovibrational spectrum of the H(3) (+) molecule using a new global potential energy surface, invariant under all permutations of the nuclei, that includes the long range electrostatic interactions analytically. The energy levels are obtained by a variational calculation using hyperspherical coordinates. From the comparison with available experimental results for low lying levels, we conclude that our accuracy is of the order of 0.1 cm(-1) for states localized in the vicinity of equilateral triangular configurations of the nuclei, and changes to the order of 1 cm(-1) when the system is distorted away from equilateral configurations. Full rovibrational spectra up to the H(+)+H(2) dissociation energy limit have been computed. The statistical properties of this spectrum (nearest neighbor distribution and spectral rigidity) show the quantum signature of classical chaos and are consistent with random matrix theory. On the other hand, the correlation function, even when convoluted with a smoothing function, exhibits oscillations which are not described by random matrix theory. We discuss a possible similarity between these oscillations and the ones observed experimentally.

Modeling of HeN+ clusters. II. Calculation of He3+ vibrational spectrum

We have computed the vibrational spectrum of the helium ionized trimer He(3)(+) using three different potential energy surfaces [D. T. Chang and G. L. Gellene, J. Chem. Phys. 119, 4694 (2003); E. Scifoni et al., ibid. 125, 164304 (2006); I. Paidarova et al., Chem. Phys. 342, 64 (2007)]. Differences in the details of these potential energy surfaces induce discrepancies between bound state energies of the order of 0.01 eV. The effects of the geometric phase induced by the conical intersection between the ground electronic potential energy surface and the first excited one are studied by computing vibrational spectra with and without this phase. The six lowest vibrational bound states are negligibly affected by the geometric phase. Indeed, they correspond to wavefunctions localized in the vicinity of the linear symmetric configurations and can be assigned well defined vibrational quantum numbers. On the other hand, higher excited states are delocalized, cannot be assigned definite vibrational quantum numbers, and the geometric phase shifts their energies by approximately 0.005 eV.