Edwin Posada

A generalized any particle propagator theory: Assessment of nuclear quantum effects on electron propagator calculations

In this work we propose an extended propagator theory for electrons and other types of quantum particles. This new approach has been implemented in the LOWDIN package and applied to sample calculations of atomic and small molecular systems to determine its accuracy and performance. As a first application of the method we have studied the nuclear quantum effects on electron ionization energies. We have observed that ionization energies of atoms are similar to those obtained with the electron propagator approach. However, for molecular systems containing hydrogen atoms there are improvements in the quality of the results with the inclusion of nuclear quantum effects. An energy term analysis has allowed us to conclude that nuclear quantum effects are important for zero order energies whereas propagator results correct the electron and electron-nuclear correlation terms. Results presented for a series of n-alkanes have revealed the potential of this method for the accurate calculation of ionization energies of a wide variety of molecular systems containing hydrogen nuclei. The proposed methodology will also be applicable to exotic molecular systems containing positrons or muons.

Including nuclear quantum effects into highly correlated electronic structure calculations of weakly bound systems

An interface between the APMO code and the electronic structure package MOLPRO is presented. The any particle molecular orbital APMO code [González et al., Int. J. Quantum Chem. 108, 1742 (2008)] implements the model where electrons and light nuclei are treated simultaneously at Hartree-Fock or second-order Möller-Plesset levels of theory. The APMO-MOLPRO interface allows to include high-level electronic correlation as implemented in the MOLPRO package and to describe nuclear quantum effects at Hartree-Fock level of theory with the APMO code. Different model systems illustrate the implementation: (4)He2 dimer as a protype of a weakly bound van der Waals system; isotopomers of [He-H-He](+) molecule as an example of a hydrogen bonded system; and molecular hydrogen to compare with very accurate non-Born-Oppenheimer calculations. The possible improvements and future developments are outlined.

Negative muon chemistry: the quantum muon effect and the finite nuclear mass effect.

The any-particle molecular orbital method at the full configuration interaction level has been employed to study atoms in which one electron has been replaced by a negative muon. In this approach electrons and muons are described as quantum waves. A scheme has been proposed to discriminate nuclear mass and quantum muon effects on chemical properties of muonic and regular atoms. This study reveals that the differences in the ionization potentials of isoelectronic muonic atoms and regular atoms are of the order of millielectronvolts. For the valence ionizations of muonic helium and muonic lithium the nuclear mass effects are more important. On the other hand, for 1s ionizations of muonic atoms heavier than beryllium, the quantum muon effects are more important. In addition, this study presents an assessment of the nuclear mass and quantum muon effects on the barrier of Heμ + H2 reaction.

The any particle molecular orbital grid-based Hartree-Fock (APMO-GBHF) approach

The any particle molecular orbital grid-based Hartree-Fock approach (APMO-GBHF) is proposed as an initial step to perform multi-component post-Hartree-Fock, explicitly correlated, and density functional theory methods without basis set errors. The method has been applied to a number of electronic and multi-species molecular systems. Results of these calculations show that the APMO-GBHF total energies are comparable with those obtained at the APMO-HF complete basis set limit. In addition, results reveal a considerable improvement in the description of the nuclear cusps of electronic and non-electronic densities.