Grid method for the Wigner functions. Application to the van der Waals system Ar–H2O

Rovibrational states calculations of the H2O-HCN heterodimer with the multiconfiguration time dependent Hartree method

Water and hydrogen cyanide are two of the most common species in space and the atmosphere with the ability of binding to form dimers such as H2O-HCN. In the literature, while calculations characterizing various properties of the H2O-HCN cluster (equilibrium distance, vibrational frequencies and rotational constants) have been done in the past, extensive calculations of the rovibrational states of this system using a reliable quantum dynamical approach have yet to be reported. In this work, we intend to mend that by performing the first calculation of the rovibrational states of the H2O-HCN van der Waals complex on a recently developed potential energy surface. We use the block improved relaxation procedure implemented in the Heidelberg MultiConfiguration Time-Dependent Hartree (MCTDH) package to compute the states of the H2O-HCN isomer, from which we extract the transition frequencies and rotational constants of the complex. We further adapt an approach first suggested by Wang and Carrington-and supported here by analysis routines of the Heidelberg MCTDH package-to properly characterize the computed rovibrational states. The subsequent assignment of rovibrational states was done by theoretical analysis and visual inspection of the wavefunctions. Our simulations provide a Zero Point Energy (ZPE) and intermolecular vibrational frequencies in good agreement with past ab initio calculations. The transition frequencies and rotational constants obtained from our simulations match well with the available experimental data. This work has the broad aim to propose the MCTDH approach as a reliable option to compute and characterize rovibrational states of van der Waals complexes such as the current one.

Ammonia dimer: extremely fluxional but still hydrogen bonded

In the 1980s, Nelson, Fraser, and Klemperer (NFK) published an experimentally derived structure of the ammonia dimer dramatically different from the structure determined computationally, which led these authors to the question "Does ammonia hydrogen bond?". This question has not yet been answered satisfactorily. To answer it, we have developed an ab initio potential energy surface (PES) for this dimer at the limits of the current computational capabilities and performed essentially exact six-dimensional calculations of the vibration-rotation-tunneling (VRT) spectra of NH₃-NH₃ and ND₃-ND₃, obtaining an unprecedented agreement with experimental spectra. In agreement with other recent electronic structure calculations, the global minimum on the PES is in a substantially bent hydrogen-bonded configuration. Since the bottom of the PES is exceptionally flat, the dimer is extremely fluxional and the probability of finding it in configurations that are not hydrogen bonded is high. Nevertheless, the probability of hydrogen-bonded configurations is large enough to consider the ammonia dimer to be hydrogen bonded. We also show that NFK's inference that the ammonia dimer is nearly rigid actually results from unusual cancellations between quantum effects that generate differences in spectra of different isotopologues.

Performance of a black-box-type rovibrational method in comparison with a tailor-made approach: Case study for the methane-water dimer

The present work intends to join and respond to the excellent and thoroughly documented rovibrational study of X. G. Wang and T. Carrington, Jr. [J. Chem. Phys. 154, 124112 (2021)] that used an approach tailored for floppy dimers with an analytic dimer Hamiltonian and a non-product basis set including Wigner D functions. It is shown in the present work that the GENIUSH black-box-type rovibrational method can approach the performance of the tailor-made computation for the example of the floppy methane-water dimer. Rovibrational transition energies and intensities are obtained in the black-box-type computation with a twice as large basis set and in excellent numerical agreement in comparison with the more efficient tailor-made approach.

Using nondirect product Wigner D basis functions and the symmetry-adapted Lanczos algorithm to compute the ro-vibrational spectrum of CH4-H2O

By doing calculations on the methane-water van der Waals complex, we demonstrate that highly converged energy levels and wavefunctions can be obtained using Wigner D basis functions and the Symmetry-Adapted Lanczos (SAL) method. The Wigner D basis is a nondirect product basis and, therefore, efficient when the kinetic energy operator has accessible singularities. The SAL method makes it possible to exploit symmetry to label energy levels and reduce the cost of the calculation, without explicitly using symmetry-adapted basis functions. Line strengths are computed, and new bands are identified. In particular, we find unusually strong transitions between states associated with the isomers of the global minimum and the secondary minimum.

Rotationally inelastic scattering of O3–Ar: state-to-state rates with the multiconfigurational time dependent Hartree method

The rates of state-changing collisions are compared for different isotopologues of ozone from quantum scattering calculations with the MCTDH method.

State-to-state inelastic rotational cross sections in five-atom systems with the multiconfiguration time dependent Hartree method

We present a MultiConfiguration Time Dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method as an attractive alternative approach to the usual quantum close-coupling method that approaches some computational limits in the calculation of rotational excitation (and de-excitation) between polyatomic molecules (here collisions between triatomic and diatomic rigid molecules). We have performed a computational investigation of the rotational (de-)excitation of the benchmark rigid rotor H₂O-H₂ system on a recently developed Potential Energy Surface of the complex using the MCTDH method. We focus here on excitations and de-excitations from the 0₀₀, 1₁₁, and 1₁₀ states of H₂O with H₂ in its ground rotational state, looking at all the potential transitions in the energy range 1-200 cm^-1. This work follows a recently completed study on the H₂O-H₂ cluster where we characterized its spectroscopy and more generally serves a broader goal to describe inelastic collision processes of high dimensional systems using the MCTDH method. We find that the cross sections obtained from the MCTDH calculations are in excellent agreement with time independent calculations from previous studies but does become challenging for the lower kinetic energy range of the de-excitation process: that is, below approximately 20 cm^-1 of collision energy, calculations with a relative modest basis become unreliable. The MCTDH method therefore appears to be a useful complement to standard approaches to study inelastic collision for various collision partners, even at low energy, though performing better for rotational excitation than for de-excitation.

Full quantum calculation of the rovibrational states and intensities for a symmetric top-linear molecule dimer: Hamiltonian, basis set, and matrix elements

The rovibrational energy levels and intensities of the CH₃F-H₂ dimer have been obtained using our recent global intermolecular potential energy surface [X.-L. Zhang et al., J. Chem. Phys. 148, 124302 (2018)]. The Hamiltonian, basis set, and matrix elements are derived and given for a symmetric top-linear molecule complex. This approach to the generation of energy levels and wavefunctions can readily be utilized for studying the rovibrational spectra of other van der Waals complexes composed of a symmetric top molecule and a linear molecule, and may readily be extended to other complexes of nonlinear molecules and linear molecules. To confirm our method, the rovibrational levels of the H₂O-H₂ dimer have been computed and shown to be in good agreement with experiment and with previous theoretical results. The rovibrational Schrödinger equation has been solved using a Lanczos algorithm together with an uncoupled product basis set. As expected, dimers containing ortho-H₂ are more strongly bound than dimers containing para-H₂. Energies and wavefunctions of the discrete rovibrational levels of CH₃F-paraH₂ complexes obtained from the direct vibrationally averaged 5-dimensional potentials are in good agreement with the results of the reduced 3-dimensional adiabatic-hindered-rotor (AHR) approximation. Accurate calculations of the transition line strengths for the orthoCH₃F-paraH₂ complex are also carried out, and are consistent with results obtained using the AHR approximation. The microwave spectrum associated with the orthoCH₃F-orthoH₂ dimer has been predicted for the first time.

Computing vibration-rotation-tunnelling levels of HOD dimer

Using an accurate 6D water dimer potential energy surface, we compute vibration-rotation-tunnelling levels of HOD dimer, by assuming that the two monomers are rigid. HOD dimer has two isomers, a D-bonded isomer and an H-bonded isomer, and the wavefunctions of both isomers have amplitude in four wells. HOD dimer is important because, unlike the case of H2O dimer or D2O dimer, it is possible to measure the largest tunnelling splitting. Results for HOD dimer, therefore facilitate the testing of H2O dimer potentials. In J. Chem. Phys., 1995, 102, 1114, experimental results were interpreted in terms of 1D models. Experimental splittings of both isomers, obtained by fitting an energy level equation to spectra, are in good agreement with those we compute.

Development of a potential energy surface for the O3–Ar system: rovibrational states of the complex

Collisional stabilization is an important step in the process of atmospheric formation of ozone.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of H2O-Ar

We have used continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy to record the spectrum of H₂O-Ar in the 2OH excitation range of H₂O. 24 sub-bands have been observed. Their rotational structure (T_rot = 12 K) is analyzed and the lines are fitted separately for ortho and para species together with microwave and far infrared data from the literature, with a unitless standard deviation σ=0.98 and 1.31, respectively. Their vibrational analysis is supported by a theoretical input based on an intramolecular potential energy surface obtained through ab initio calculations and computation of the rotational energy of sub-states of the complex with the water monomer in excited vibrational states up to the first hexad. For the ground and (010) vibrational states, the theoretical results agree well with experimental energies and rotational constants in the literature. For the excited vibrational states of the first hexad, they guided the assignment of the observed sub-bands. The upper state vibrational predissociation lifetime is estimated to be 3 ns from observed spectral linewidths.

Neural network iterative diagonalization method to solve eigenvalue problems in quantum mechanics

The neural network iterative diagonalization structure for computing the eigenstates of complex symmetric or Hermitian matrices.

Fully quantal calculation of H2 translation-rotation states in (H2)4@5(12)6(4) clathrate sII inclusion compounds

The quantal translation-rotation (TR) states of the (p-H2)4@5(12)6(4) and (o-D2)4@5(12)6(4) hydrate clathrate sII inclusion compounds have been computed by nuclear-orbital/configuration-interaction methods. The model of these compounds in a rigid, high-symmetry 5(12)6(4) cage is treated in detail. The low-energy TR level structures of both isotopomers within this model are found to consist of states that can be readily described in terms of a small number of single-H2 and double-H2 excitation modes. The use of the high-symmetry results to facilitate the calculation and interpretation of (p-H2)4 and (o-D2)4 TR states in low-symmetry physically realizable 5(12)6(4) cages is also reported.

Nuclear-orbital/configuration-interaction study of coupled translation-rotation states in (H2)2@C70

The quantal translation-rotation states of two endohedral H(2) moieties in C(70) are computed by means of a nuclear-orbital/configuration-interaction method. H(2) "nuclear orbitals" are calculated as the translation-rotation eigenfunctions of one H(2) molecule interacting with C(70) and the mean field of the second H(2) molecule. Configurations are constructed as symmetrized bilinear products of these orbitals. These configurations are employed as the basis in which the matrix of the translation-rotation Hamiltonian of the cluster is computed and diagonalized. We show that this scheme allows for an efficient means to calculate the Hamiltonian matrix elements. We show that the configuration basis states represent excellent first approximations to the eigenstates of the species. Finally, we present results pertaining to the (H(2))(2)@C(70) low-energy translation-rotation level structure that can be understood in terms of a small number of H(2) excitation types.

Variational properties of the discrete variable representation: discrete variable representation via effective operators

A variational finite basis representation/discrete variable representation (FBR/DVR) Hamiltonian operator has been introduced. By calculating its matrix elements exactly one obtains, depending on the choice of the basis set, either a variational FBR or a variational DVR. The domain of grid points on which the FBR/DVR is variational has been shown to consist of the subsets of the set of grid points one obtains by diagonalizing commuting variational basis representations of the coordinate operators. The variational property implies that the optimal of the subsets of a fixed number of points, i.e., the subset which gives the possible highest accuracy eigenpairs, gives the DVR of the smallest trace. The symmetry properties of the variational FBR/DVR Hamiltonian operator are analyzed and methods to incorporate symmetry into FBR/DVR calculations are discussed. It is shown how the Fourier-basis FBR/DVR suitable to solving periodic systems arise within the theory presented. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results. The use of variational effective Hamiltonian and coordinate operators has been instrumental in this study. They have been introduced in a novel way by exploiting quasi-Hermiticity.

A new ab initio intermolecular potential energy surface and predicted rotational spectra of the Ne-H2S complex

We report a new three-dimensional ab initio intermolecular potential energy surface for the Ne-H(2)S complex with H(2)S monomer fixed at its experimental average structure. Using the supermolecular approach, the intermolecular potential energies were evaluated at CCSD(T) (coupled cluster with single and double and perturbative triple excitations) level with large basis sets including bond functions. The full counterpoise procedure was employed to correct the basis set superposition error. The planar T-shaped global minimum is located at the intermolecular distance of 3.51 Å with a well depth of 71.57 cm(-1). An additional planar local minimum was found to be separated from the global minimum with an energy barrier of 23.11 cm(-1). In addition, two first-order and one second-order saddle points were also located. The combined radial discrete variable representation/angular finite basis representation method and the Lanczos algorithm were employed to evaluate the rovibrational energy levels for eight isotopic species of the Ne-H(2)S complexes. The rotational transition frequencies for the eight isotopomers were also determined for the ground and first vibrational excited states, which are all in very good agreement with the available experimental values.

Using redundant coordinates to represent potential energy surfaces with lower-dimensional functions

We propose a method for fitting potential energy surfaces with a sum of component functions of lower dimensionality. This form facilitates quantum dynamics calculations. We show that it is possible to reduce the dimensionality of the component functions by introducing new and redundant coordinates obtained with linear transformations. The transformations are obtained from a neural network. Different coordinates are used for different component functions and the new coordinates are determined as the potential is fitted. The quality of the fits and the generality of the method are illustrated by fitting reference potential surfaces of hydrogen peroxide and of the reaction OH+H(2)-->H(2)O+H.

Optimal grids for generalized finite basis and discrete variable representations: definition and method of calculation

The method of optimal generalized finite basis and discrete variable representations (FBR and DVR) generalizes the standard, Gaussian quadrature grid-classical orthonormal polynomial basis-based FBR/DVR method to general sets of grid points and to general, nondirect product, and/or nonpolynomial bases. Here, it is shown how an optimal set of grid points can be obtained for an optimal generalized FBR/DVR calculation with a given truncated basis. Basis set optimized and potential optimized grids are defined. The optimized grids are shown to minimize a function of grid points derived by relating the optimal generalized FBR of a Hamiltonian operator to a non-Hermitian effective Hamiltonian matrix. Locating the global minimum of this function can be reduced to finding the zeros of a function in the case of one dimensional problems and to solving a system of D nonlinear equations repeatedly in the case of D>1 dimensional problems when there is an equal number of grid points and basis functions. Gaussian quadrature grids are shown to be basis optimized grids. It is demonstrated by a numerical example that an optimal generalized FBR/DVR calculation of the eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian operator with potential optimized grids can have orders of magnitude higher accuracy than a variational calculation employing the same truncated basis. Nevertheless, for numerical integration with the optimal generalized FBR quadrature rule basis optimized grids are the best among grids of the same number of points. The notions of Gaussian quadrature and Gaussian quadrature accuracy are extended to general, multivariable basis functions.

A random-sampling high dimensional model representation neural network for building potential energy surfaces

We combine the high dimensional model representation (HDMR) idea of Rabitz and co-workers [J. Phys. Chem. 110, 2474 (2006)] with neural network (NN) fits to obtain an effective means of building multidimensional potentials. We verify that it is possible to determine an accurate many-dimensional potential by doing low dimensional fits. The final potential is a sum of terms each of which depends on a subset of the coordinates. This form facilitates quantum dynamics calculations. We use NNs to represent HDMR component functions that minimize error mode term by mode term. This NN procedure makes it possible to construct high-order component functions which in turn enable us to determine a good potential. It is shown that the number of available potential points determines the order of the HDMR which should be used.

Finite basis representations with nondirect product basis functions having structure similar to that of spherical harmonics

The currently most efficient finite basis representation (FBR) method [Corey et al., in Numerical Grid Methods and Their Applications to Schrodinger Equation, NATO ASI Series C, edited by C. Cerjan (Kluwer Academic, New York, 1993), Vol. 412, p. 1; Bramley et al., J. Chem. Phys. 100, 6175 (1994)] designed specifically to deal with nondirect product bases of structures phi(n) (l)(s)f(l)(u), chi(m) (l)(t)phi(n) (l)(s)f(l)(u), etc., employs very special l-independent grids and results in a symmetric FBR. While highly efficient, this method is not general enough. For instance, it cannot deal with nondirect product bases of the above structure efficiently if the functions phi(n) (l)(s) [and/or chi(m) (l)(t)] are discrete variable representation (DVR) functions of the infinite type. The optimal-generalized FBR(DVR) method [V. Szalay, J. Chem. Phys. 105, 6940 (1996)] is designed to deal with general, i.e., direct and/or nondirect product, bases and grids. This robust method, however, is too general, and its direct application can result in inefficient computer codes [Czako et al., J. Chem. Phys. 122, 024101 (2005)]. It is shown here how the optimal-generalized FBR method can be simplified in the case of nondirect product bases of structures phi(n) (l)(s)f(l)(u), chi(m) (l)(t)phi(n) (l)(s)f(l)(u), etc. As a result the commonly used symmetric FBR is recovered and simplified nonsymmetric FBRs utilizing very special l-dependent grids are obtained. The nonsymmetric FBRs are more general than the symmetric FBR in that they can be employed efficiently even when the functions phi(n) (l)(s) [and/or chi(m) (l)(t)] are DVR functions of the infinite type. Arithmetic operation counts and a simple numerical example presented show unambiguously that setting up the Hamiltonian matrix requires significantly less computer time when using one of the proposed nonsymmetric FBRs than that in the symmetric FBR. Therefore, application of this nonsymmetric FBR is more efficient than that of the symmetric FBR when one wants to diagonalize the Hamiltonian matrix either by a direct or via a basis-set contraction method. Enormous decrease of computer time can be achieved, with respect to a direct application of the optimal-generalized FBR, by employing one of the simplified nonsymmetric FBRs as is demonstrated in noniterative calculations of the low-lying vibrational energy levels of the H3+ molecular ion. The arithmetic operation counts of the Hamiltonian matrix vector products and the properties of a recently developed diagonalization method [Andreozzi et al., J. Phys. A Math. Gen. 35, L61 (2002)] suggest that the nonsymmetric FBR applied along with this particular diagonalization method is suitable to large scale iterative calculations. Whether or not the nonsymmetric FBR is competitive with the symmetric FBR in large-scale iterative calculations still has to be investigated numerically.

Improving the calculation of rovibrational spectra of five-atom molecules with three identical atoms by using a C3υ(G6) symmetry-adapted grid: Applied to CH3D and CHD3

In this paper we report two improvements on the approach we have used to compute rovibrational levels of methane and apply the new ideas to calculate rovibrational levels of two methane isotopomers CH3D and CHD3. Both improvements make the bend calculation better. The first improvement is a G6-invariant (or C3upsilon-invariant) grid which is designed such that each point on the grid is mapped to another point on the grid by any of the G6 operations. The second improvement is the use of fast Fourier transform (FFT) to compute the bend potential matrix-vector products. The FFT matrix-vector product is about three and ten times faster than the previous sequential summation method for the J=0 and J>0 cases, respectively. The calculated J=1 rovibrational levels of CH3D and CHD3 on the Schwenke and Partridge [Spectrochim. Acta, Part A 57, 887 (2001)] ab initio potential are in good agreement (within 6 cm(-1) for the levels up to 3000 cm(-1)) with the experimental data. The agreement is even better (within 0.1 cm(-1) for the levels up to 6000 cm(-1)) if the associated J=0 energies are subtracted.