A numerical-tensorial "hybrid" nuclear motion Hamiltonian and dipole moment operator for spectra calculation of polyatomic nonrigid molecules

The analysis and modeling of high-resolution spectra of nonrigid molecules require a specific Hamiltonian and group-theoretical formulation that differs significantly from that of more familiar rigid systems. Within the framework of Hougen-Bunker-Johns (HBJ) theory, this paper is devoted to the construction of a nonrigid Hamiltonian based on a suitable combination of numerical calculations for the nonrigid part in conjunction with the irreducible tensor operator method for the rigid part. For the first time, a variational calculation from ab initio potential energy surfaces is performed using the HBJ kinetic energy operator built from vibrational, large-amplitude motion, and rotational tensor operators expressed in terms of curvilinear and normal coordinates. Group theory for nonrigid molecules plays a central role in the characterization of the overall tunneling splittings and is discussed in the present approach. The construction of the dipole moment operator is also examined. Validation tests consisting of a careful convergence study of the energy levels as well as a comparison of results obtained from independent computer codes are given for the nonrigid molecules CH2, CH3, NH3, and H2O2. This work paves the way for the modeling of high-resolution spectra of larger nonrigid systems.

Artificial Symmetries for Calculating Vibrational Energies of Linear Molecules

Linear molecules usually represent a special case in rotational-vibrational calculations due to a singularity of the kinetic energy operator that arises from the rotation about the a (the principal axis of least moment of inertia, becoming the molecular axis at the linear equilibrium geometry) being undefined. Assuming the standard ro-vibrational basis functions, in the 3N−6 approach, of the form ∣ν1,ν2,ν3ℓ3;J,k,m⟩, tackling the unique difficulties of linear molecules involves constraining the vibrational and rotational functions with k=ℓ3, which are the projections, in units of ℏ, of the corresponding angular momenta onto the molecular axis. These basis functions are assigned to irreducible representations (irreps) of the C2v(M) molecular symmetry group. This, in turn, necessitates purpose-built codes that specifically deal with linear molecules. In the present work, we describe an alternative scheme and introduce an (artificial) group that ensures that the condition ℓ3=k is automatically applied solely through symmetry group algebra. The advantage of such an approach is that the application of symmetry group algebra in ro-vibrational calculations is ubiquitous, and so this method can be used to enable ro-vibrational calculations of linear molecules in polyatomic codes with fairly minimal modifications. To this end, we construct a—formally infinite—artificial molecular symmetry group D∞h(AEM), which consists of one-dimensional (non-degenerate) irreducible representations and use it to classify vibrational and rotational basis functions according to ℓ and k. This extension to non-rigorous, artificial symmetry groups is based on cyclic groups of prime-order. Opposite to the usual scenario, where the form of symmetry adapted basis sets is dictated by the symmetry group the molecule belongs to, here the symmetry group D∞h(AEM) is built to satisfy properties for the convenience of the basis set construction and matrix elements calculations. We believe that the idea of purpose-built artificial symmetry groups can be useful in other applications.