State-to-state studies of intramolecular energy transfer in highly excited HOOH(D): Dependencies on vibrational and rotational excitation

Potential Nonstatistical Effects on the Unimolecular Decomposition of H2O2

An attempt is made to evaluate the nonstatistical effects in the thermal decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Previous experimental studies on this reaction reported an unusual pressure dependence of the rate constant indicating broader falloff behavior than expected from conventional theory. In this work, the possibility that the rate constant is affected by nonstatistical effects is investigated based on classical trajectory calculations on the global potential energy surfaces of H₂O₂ and H₂O₂ + Ar. The emphasis is on the intramolecular energy redistribution from the K-rotor, that is, the external rotor for rotation around the principal axis of least moment of inertia. The calculations for the H₂O₂ molecules excited above the dissociation threshold suggest that the energy redistribution from the torsion and K-rotor to vibrations can be competitive with dissociation. In particular, the slow redistribution of the energy associated with the K-rotor significantly affects the dissociation rate. The successive trajectory calculations for collisions of H₂O₂ with Ar show that the energy associated with the K-rotor can be collisionally transferred more efficiently than the vibrational energy. On the basis of these results and several assumptions, a simple model is proposed to account for the nonstatistical effects on the pressure-dependent thermal rate constants. The model predicts significant broadening of the falloff curve of the rate constants but still cannot fully explain the experimental data.

Unimolecular processes in CH2OH below the dissociation barrier: O–H stretch overtone excitation and dissociation

The OH-stretch overtone spectroscopy and dynamics of the hydroxymethyl radical, CH(2)OH, are reported in the region of the second and third overtones, which is above the thermochemical threshold to dissociation to H+CH(2)O (D(0)=9600 cm(-1)). The second overtone spectrum at 10 484 cm(-1) is obtained by double resonance IR-UV resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectroscopy via the 3p(z) electronic state. It is rotationally resolved with a linewidth of 0.4 cm(-1) and displays properties of local-mode vibration. No dissociation products are observed. The third overtone spectra of CH(2)OH and CD(2)OH are observed at approximately 13 600 cm(-1) by monitoring H-atom photofragments while scanning the excitation laser frequency. No double resonance REMPI spectrum is detected, and no D fragments are produced. The spectra of both isotope analogs can be simulated with a linewidth of 1.3 cm(-1), indicating dissociation via tunneling. By treating the tunneling as one dimensional and using the calculated imaginary frequency, the barrier to dissociation is estimated at about 15 200 cm(-1), in good agreement with theoretical estimations. The Birge-Sponer plot is linear for OH-stretch vibrations 1nu(1)-4nu(1), demonstrating behavior of a one-dimensional Morse oscillator. The anharmonicity parameter derived from the plot is similar to the values obtained for other small OH containing molecules. Isomerization to methoxy does not contribute to the predissociation signal and the mechanism appears to be direct O-H fission via tunneling. CH(2)OH presents a unique example in which the reaction coordinate is excited directly and leads to predissociation via tunneling while preserving the local-mode character of the stretch vibration.

A comparison of experimental and calculated spectra of HNO3 in the near-infrared using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and vibrational perturbation theory

This work combines new laboratory studies of the near-infrared vibrational spectra of HNO3 with theoretical predictions of these spectra as a means to understand the properties of this molecule at energies well above the fundamental region. Trends in overtone and combination band energy levels and intensities are compiled and examined. The theoretical calculations are in excellent agreement with the observed frequencies and intensities of the transitions in this spectral region. The calculations also serve as a valuable aid for assigning many of the transitions. This work validates the ab initio generated potential energy surface for HNO3 by comparing vibrational perturbation theory calculations to experimental spectra focused on combination band and overtone absorptions.

Calculation of specific, highly excited vibrational states based on a Davidson scheme: Application to HFCO

We present the efficiency of a new modified Davidson scheme which yields selectively one high-energy vibrationally excited eigenstate or a series of eigenstates. The calculation of a highly vibrationally excited state psi located in a dense part of the spectrum requires a specific prediagonalization step before the Davidson scheme. It consists in building a small active space P containing the zero-order states which are coupled with the zero-order description of the eigenstate of interest. We propose a general way to define this active space P which plays a crucial role in the method. The efficiency of the method is illustrated by computing and analyzing the high-energy excited overtones of the out-of-plane mode [formula: see text] in HFCO. These overtone energies correspond to the 234th, 713th, and 1774th energy levels in our reference basis set which contains roughly 140,000 states. One of the main advantages of this Davidson scheme comes from the fact that the eigenstate and eigenvalue convergence can be assessed during the iterations by looking at the residual [formula: see text]. The maximum value epsilon allowed for this residual constitutes a very sensitive and efficient parameter which sets the accuracy of the eigenvalues and eigenstates, even when the studied states are highly excited and are localized in a dense part of the spectrum. The physical analysis of the eigenstates associated with the 5th, 7th, and 9th out-of-plane overtones in HFCO provides some interesting information on the energy localization in this mode and on the role played by the in-plane modes. Also, it provides some ideas on the numerical methods which should be developed in the future to tackle higher-energy excited states in polyatomics.

A Jacobi-Wilson description coupled to a block-Davidson algorithm: An efficient scheme to calculate highly excited vibrational levels

We present a new approach based on the block-Davidson scheme which provides eigenvalues and eigenvectors of highly excited (ro) vibrational states of polyatomic molecules. The key ingredient is a prediagonalized-perturbative scheme applied to a subspace of a curvilinear normal-mode basis set. This approach is coupled to the Jacobi vector description recently developed by our group [C. Leforestier, A. Viel, F. Gatti, C. Munoz, and C. Iung, J. Chem. Phys. 114, 2099 (2001)], and applied to the HFCO and H2CO molecules, which represent the main difficulties of such calculations for any available method. The first one presents a significant state density because of its low symmetry and the presence of a fluorine atom, while strong resonances and intermode couplings occur in H2CO. This study establishes the robustness, the numerical efficiency, and the versatility of the method which is compared to the regular Lanczos and Davidson schemes. It is also shown that the eigenvectors can be obtained within a given accuracy easily set by the user. This point constitutes one of the main advantages of the method as very few potential-energy surfaces achieve an accuracy of the order of a wave number for highly excited states. Furthermore, this method allows one to restrict the calculations to selected energy levels based on their zero-order descriptions.

Study of vibrational energy localization and redistribution in hydrogen peroxide H2O2 at low energy

Vibrational energy localization and/or redistribution in hydrogen peroxide H2O2 is studied at about 4000 cm(-1) above the quantum mechanical ground state using the ab initio potential energy surface of Koput, Carter, and Handy [J. Phys. Chem. A 102, 6325 (1998)]. In this work, the recently derived canonical perturbation procedure for floppy molecules serves two purposes. First, from the quantum mechanical point of view, it is shown that the energies of the lowest 130 states are reproduced with an average error smaller than 1.5 cm(-1) by a two-dimensional Hamiltonian, which is a function of the torsion and OO-stretch coordinates and momenta, while the other four degrees of freedom contribute only through powers of good quantum numbers. Moreover, the canonical perturbation procedure is also used in classical mechanics calculations, in order to define meaningful local modes, for which the ingoing and outgoing energy flows are monitored. Almost all the individual trajectories launched on the ab initio surface display the same behavior, that is, the superposition of (a) rapid (few hundreds of femtoseconds) and quasiperiodic energy exchanges between the two OH stretches and between the torsion and OO-stretch, and (b) slower (few to several picoseconds) but erratic-looking energy flows between all degrees of freedom. When averaging over large numbers of trajectories with the same local mode energies at time t=0, one observes instead a smooth and irreversible energy flow between all degrees of freedom, which usually thermalize in the range of several tens of picoseconds, that is, on time scales larger than the 5 ps period associated with the quantum density of states.

Interpolating moving least-squares methods for fitting potential energy surfaces: Applications to classical dynamics calculations

As a continuation of our efforts to develop efficient and accurate interpolating moving least-squares (IMLS) methods for generating potential energy surfaces, we carry out classical trajectories and compute kinetics properties on higher degree IMLS surfaces. In this study, we have investigated the choice of coordinate system, the range of points (i.e., the cutoff radius) used in fitting, and strategies for selections of data points and basis elements. We illustrate and test the method by applying it to hydrogen peroxide (HOOH). In particular, reaction rates for the O-O bond breaking in HOOH are calculated on fitted surfaces using the classical trajectory approach to test the accuracy of the IMLS method for providing potentials for dynamics calculations.

Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in the highly excited fluoroform molecule: A quantum mechanical study using the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree algorithm

The present paper is devoted to a detailed study of the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in fluoroform initiated by a local mode excitation of the CH stretch [nnu(CH) (n=1,...,4)]. All nine internal degrees of freedom are explicitly taken into account and the full quantum mechanical simulation is performed by means of the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree algorithm. The existence of different time scales considerably complicates the dynamics. The mode-to-mode energy transfer is analyzed by calculating the evolution of the partial energies of all vibrational modes. This study emphasizes the crucial role played by the two-dimensional FCH bending modes which act as an energy reservoir. The fast energy flow into these bending modes significantly hinders an energy flow from the CH chromophore. Finally, our results are compared with those obtained previously with the wave operator sorting algorithm approach.