Attila Tajti

HEAT: High accuracy extrapolated ab initio thermochemistry

A theoretical model chemistry designed to achieve high accuracy for enthalpies of formation of atoms and small molecules is described. This approach is entirely independent of experimental data and contains no empirical scaling factors, and includes a treatment of electron correlation up to the full coupled-cluster singles, doubles, triples and quadruples approach. Energies are further augmented by anharmonic zero-point vibrational energies, a scalar relativistic correction, first-order spin-orbit coupling, and the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction. The accuracy of the approach is assessed by several means. Enthalpies of formation (at 0 K) calculated for a test suite of 31 atoms and molecules via direct calculation of the corresponding elemental formation reactions are within 1 kJ mol(-1) to experiment in all cases. Given the quite different bonding environments in the product and reactant sides of these reactions, the results strongly indicate that even greater accuracy may be expected in reactions that preserve (either exactly or approximately) the number and types of chemical bonds.

Analytic calculation of the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction within configuration-interaction and coupled-cluster theory

Schemes for the analytic calculation of the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction (DBOC) are formulated and implemented for use with general single-reference configuration-interaction and coupled-cluster wave function models. Calculations are reported to demonstrate the convergence of the DBOC with respect to electron-correlation treatment and basis set as well as to investigate the size-consistency error in configuration-interaction calculations of the DBOC. The importance of electron-correlation contributions to the DBOC is illustrated in the computation of the corresponding corrections for the reaction energy and activation barrier of the F + H2 --> FH + H reaction as well as of the atomization energy for trans-butadiene.

Can coupled-cluster theory treat conical intersections?

Conical intersections between electronic states are of great importance for the understanding of radiationless ultrafast relaxation processes. In particular, accidental degeneracies of hypersurfaces, i.e., between states of the same symmetry, become increasingly relevant for larger molecular systems. Coupled-cluster theory, including both single and multireference based schemes, offers a size-extensive description of the electronic wave function, but it sacrifices the Hermitian character of the theory. In this contribution, we examine the consequences of anti-Hermitian contributions to the coupling matrix element between near-degenerate states such as linear dependent eigenvectors and complex eigenvalues. Numerical examples are given for conical intersections between two excited states calculated at the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster level which indeed show the predicted artifacts. A simple method is suggested which allows physically meaningful potential energy surfaces to be extracted from the otherwise ill-behaved results. This provides a perspective for obtaining potential energy surfaces near conical intersections at the coupled-cluster level.

Analytic evaluation of the nonadiabatic coupling vector between excited states using equation-of-motion coupled-cluster theory

Theory and implementation for evaluation of the nonadiabatic coupling vector between excited electronic states described by equation-of-motion excitation energy coupled-cluster singles and doubles (EOMEE-CCSD) method is presented. Problems arising from the non-Hermitian nature of the theory are discussed in detail. The performance of the new approach is demonstrated by the nice agreement of the nonadiabatic coupling curves for LiH obtained at the EOMEE-CCSD and MR-CISD levels. Using the tools developed we also present a computational procedure to evaluate the interstate coupling constants used in vibronic coupling theories. As an application of this part of the implementation we present simulation of the electronic absorption spectrum of the pyrazine molecule within the linear vibronic coupling model.

Perturbative treatment of the electron-correlation contribution to the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction

A perturbative scheme for the treatment of electron-correlation effects on the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction (DBOC) is suggested. Utilizing the usual Moller-Plesset partitioning of the Hamiltonian formulas for first and second orders (termed as MP1 and MP2) are obtained by expanding the wave function in the corresponding coupled-cluster expressions for the DBOC[J. Gauss et al., J. Chem. Phys. 125, 144111 (2006)]. The obtained expressions are recast in terms of one- and two-particle density matrices in order to take advantage of existing analytic second-derivative implementations for many-body methods. Test calculations show that both MP1 and MP2 recover large fractions (on average 90% and 95%, respectively) of the coupled-cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) electron-correlation corrections to the DBOC and thus render the suggested MP treatments cost-effective (though still accurate) alternatives to high-level coupled cluster (CC) treatments. The applicability of the MP1 and MP2 schemes for treating DBOC is demonstrated in calculations for the atomization energies of benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, and tetracene. The corresponding corrections are surprisingly large (about 0.6 kJmol for benzene, 1.1 kJmol for naphthalene, 1.5 kJmol for anthracene, and 1.8 kJmol for tetracene) with the electron-correlation corrections reducing the corresponding Hartree-Fock self-consistent field values by 25%-30%.

Ab initio determination of the heat of formation of ketenyl (HCCO) and ethynyl (CCH) radicals

The heats of formation of ketenyl (HCCO) and ethynyl (CCH) radicals have been obtained from high level ab initio calculations. A set of reactions involving HCCO, CCH and species with well-known heats of formation has been considered. The reaction enthalpies have been calculated from the total energy of the species involved. These calculations include a non-relativistic electronic energy from extrapolated coupled-cluster calculations (up to CCSDTQ), corrections for scalar relativistic and spin-orbit effects, as well as the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction. This study also presents an accurate equilibrium geometry for HCCO as well as harmonic and fundamental frequencies for both HCCO and CCH.

Reinterpretation of the UV spectrum of cytosine: Only two electronic transitions?

Theoretical vertical excitation energies and simulated UV spectrum are reported for the canonical (amino-oxo) form of cytosine. The calculations were performed by the EOM-CCSD and EOM-CC3 methods with basis sets up to triple-zeta quality. Beyond vertical excitations, the complete vibronic spectrum has been determined the first time, using the linear vibronic coupling (LVC) method. On the basis of the computed data, a critical review of the available experimental information (UV spectra, linear dichroism, Resonance Raman and REMPI measurements) has led to the surprising conclusion that cytosine has only two, rather than four, observable electronic transitions in the UV range up to 60,000 cm(-1). The result may be of crucial importance for future photochemical studies.

Early events in the nonadiabatic relaxation dynamics of 4-(N, N -Dimethylamino)benzonitrile

4-(N,N-Dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN) is the archetypal system for dual fluorescence. Several past studies, both experimental and theoretical, have examined the mechanism of its relaxation in the gas phase following photoexcitation to the S2 state, without converging to a single description. In this contribution, we report first-principles simulations of the early events involved in this process performed using the nonadiabatic trajectory surface hopping (TSH) approach in combination with the ADC(2) electronic structure method. ADC(2) is verified to reproduce the ground- and excited-state structures of DMABN in reasonably close agreement with previous theoretical benchmarks. The TSH simulations predict that internal conversion from the S2 state to the S1 takes place as early as 8.5 fs, on average, after the initial photoexcitation, and with no significant torsion of the dimethylamino group relative to the aromatic ring. As evidenced by supporting EOM-CCSD calculations, the population transfer from S2 to S1 can be attributed to the skeletal deformation modes of the aromatic ring and the stretching of the ring-dimethylamino nitrogen bond. The non- or slightly twisted locally excited structure is the predominant product of the internal conversion, and the twisted intramolecular charge transfer structure is formed through equilibration with the locally excited structure with no change of adiabatic state. These findings point toward a new interpretation of data from previous time-resolved experiments.

Code interoperability and standard data formats in quantum chemistry and quantum dynamics: The Q5/D5Cost data model.

Code interoperability and the search for domain‐specific standard data formats represent critical issues in many areas of computational science. The advent of novel computing infrastructures such as computational grids and clouds make these issues even more urgent. The design and implementation of a common data format for quantum chemistry (QC) and quantum dynamics (QD) computer programs is discussed with reference to the research performed in the course of two Collaboration in Science and Technology Actions. The specific data models adopted, Q5Cost and D5Cost, are shown to work for a number of interoperating codes, regardless of the type and amount of information (small or large datasets) to be exchanged. The codes are either interfaced directly, or transfer data by means of wrappers; both types of data exchange are supported by the Q5/D5Cost library. Further, the exchange of data between QC and QD codes is addressed. As a proof of concept, the H + H2 reaction is discussed. The proposed scheme is shown to provide an excellent basis for cooperative code development, even across domain boundaries. Moreover, the scheme presented is found to be useful also as a production tool in the grid distributed computing environment.

Accuracy of Coupled Cluster Excitation Energies in Diffuse Basis Sets

We present a comprehensive statistical analysis on the accuracy of various excited state Coupled Cluster methods, accentuating the effect of diffuse basis sets on vertical excitation energies of valence and Rydberg-type states. Many popular approximate doubles and triples methods are benchmarked with basis sets up to aug-cc-pVTZ, with high level EOM-CCSDT results used as reference. The results reveal a serious deficiency of CC2 linear response and CIS(D) techniques in the description of Rydberg states, a feature not shown by the EOM-CCSD(2) and EOM-CCSD variants. The CC3 theory proves to be an accurate choice among the iterative approximate triples methods, while the novel perturbation-based CCSD(T)(a)* variant turns out to be the best way to include the effect of triple excitations in a noniterative way.