Study of correlation states of acetylene by synchrotron photoelectron spectroscopy

Formation of hot hydrogen atoms from superexcited states of acetylene

The cross sections for the formation of the H(2p) and H(2s) atoms, σ _2p and σ _2s , respectively, in photoexcitation of C₂H₂ were obtained in an absolute scale for studying formation and decay of superexcited states in the extreme ultraviolet range. Several superexcited states of C₂H₂ including multiply excited states were found in the curve of the σ _2p cross sections as a function of the incident photon energy. The same states seem to contribute to the variation in the σ _2s cross sections as well, which can be ascribed to the non-adiabatic transitions between the 2p and 2s channels. The Σ/Π symmetry-resolved cross sections for the H(2s) atom formation, σ 2 s Σ and σ 2 s Π , were also obtained on an absolute scale. The coupling between the Σ u + 1 and ¹Π _u states was found to be small.

Damaging Intermolecular Energy and Proton Transfer Processes in Alpha-Particle-Irradiated Hydrogen-Bonded Systems

Although the biological hazard of alpha-particle radiation is well-recognized, the molecular mechanisms of biodamage are still far from being understood. Irreparable lesions in biomolecules may not only have mechanical origin but also appear due to various electronic and nuclear relaxation processes of ionized states produced by an alpha-particle impact. Two such processes were identified in the present study by considering an acetylene dimer, a biologically relevant system possessing an intermolecular hydrogen bond. The first process is the already well-established intermolecular Coulombic decay of inner-valence-ionized states. The other is a novel relaxation mechanism of dicationic states involving intermolecular proton transfer. Both processes are very fast and trigger Coulomb explosion of the dimer due to creation of charge-separated states. These processes are general and predicted to occur also in alpha-particle-irradiated nucleobase pairs in DNA molecules.

Vertical spectrum of the C2H2+ system. An open shell (SC)2-CAS-SDCI study

The open shell (SC)(2)-CAS-SDCI method along with a basis set of atomic natural orbitals (ANO) has been applied for calculating the main ionization potentials of acetylene, as well as the manifold of excited states of the different symmetries up to 32 eV. In this method, the single and double excitations of a CAS space are generated and the corresponding CI matrix is corrected by means of the (SC)(2) procedure that cancels the size-extensivity error and adds some high order contributions. The mean absolute error for the outer-valence X (2)Pi(u)(1pi(u) (-1)), A (2)Sigma(g) (+)(3sigma(g) (-1)), and B (2)Sigma(u) (+)(2sigma(u) (-1)) states, and the inner-valence C (2)Sigma(g) (+)(2sigma(g) (-1)) state is 0.1 eV. The excited states of C(2)H(2) (+) corresponding to the Sigma(g) (+), Sigma(u) (+), Pi(g), Pi(u), Delta(g), and Delta(u) symmetries are reported and their composition is discussed. The results are thoroughly compared to the best available multireference CI calculations. Recent multichannel CI results by Wells and Lucchese [J Chem Phys 1999, 110, 6365] have been used also as a guide for the discussion of the results. Discrepancies in the description of many multiconfigurational states by means of the (SC)(2)-CAS-SDCI wave function as compared to previous large MR-CI calculations are significant and are, consequently, remarked on. A large mixing of the 3sigma(g) (-1) and 2sigma(g) (-1) processes is found in the A (2)Sigma(g) (+) and C (2)Sigma(g) (+) states, provided that the basis set is augmented with Rydberg functions.

Reducing CAS-SDCI space. Using selected spaces in configuration interaction calculations in an efficient way

A new method is presented, which allows an important reduction of the size of some Configuration Interaction (CI) matrices. Starting from a Complete Active Space (CAS), the numerous configurations that have a small weight in the CAS wave function are eliminated. When excited configurations (e.g., singly and doubly excited) are added to the reference space, the resulting MR-SDCI space is reduced in the same proportion as compared with the full CAS-SDCI. A set of active orbitals is chosen, but some selection of the most relevant excitations is performed because not all the possible excitations act as SDCI generators. Thanks to a new addressing technique, the computational time is drastically reduced, because the new addressing of the selected active space is as efficient as the addressing of the CAS. The presentation of the method is followed by two test calculations on the N(2) and HCCH molecules. For the N(2) the FCI results are taken as a benchmark reference. The outer valence ionization potentials of HCCH are compared to the experimental values. Both examples allow to test the accuracy of the MR-SDCI compared to that of the corresponding CAS-SDCI, despite the noticeable reduction of the CI space. The algorithm is suitable for the dressing techniques that allow for the correction of the size-extensivity error. The corrected results are also shown and discussed.