J. C. Angulo

Insight into the informational-structure behavior of the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride

The course of the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride were studied. Two reaction paths were modelled: endo- and exo-selective paths. All structures within the transient region were characterized and analyzed by means of geometrical descriptors, physicochemical parameters and information-theoretical measures in order to observe the linkage between chemical behavior and the carriage of information. We have shown that the information-theoretical characterization of the chemical course of the reaction is in complete agreement with its phenomenological behavior in passing from reactants to products. In addition, we were able to detect the main differences between the two reaction mechanisms. This type of informational analysis serves to provide tools to help understand the chemical reactivity of the two simplest Diels-Alder reactions, which permits the establishment of a connection between the quantum changes that molecular systems exert along reaction coordinates and standard physicochemical phenomenology. In the present study, we have shown that every reaction stage has a family of subsequent structures that are characterized not solely by their phenomenological behavior but also by informational properties of their electronic density distribution (localizability, order, uniformity). Moreover, we were able to describe the main differences between endo-adduct and exo-adduct pathways. With the advent of new experimental techniques, it is in principle possible to observe the structural changes in the transient regions of chemical reactions. Indeed, through this work we have provided the theoretical concepts needed to unveil the concurrent processes associated with chemical reactions.

Atomic complexity measures in position and momentum spaces

Fisher-Shannon (FS) and Lopez-Ruiz, Mancini, and Calbet (LMC) complexity measures, detecting not only randomness but also structure, are computed by using near Hartree-Fock wave functions for neutral atoms with nuclear charge Z=1-103 in position, momentum, and product spaces. It is shown that FS and LMC complexities are qualitatively and numerically equivalent for these systems. New complexity candidates are defined, computed, and compared by using the following information-theoretic magnitudes: Shannon entropy, Fisher information, disequilibrium, and variance. Localization-delocalization planes are constructed for each complexity measure, where the subshell pattern of the periodic table is clearly shown. The complementary use of r and p spaces provides a compact and more complete understanding of the information content of these planes.

Tight rigorous bounds to atomic information entropies

The position‐space entropy Sρ and the momentum‐space entropy Sγ are two increasingly important quantities in the study of the structure and scattering phenomena of atomic and molecular systems. Here, an information‐theoretic method which makes use of the Bialynicki–Birula and Mycielski’s inequality is described to find rigorous upper and lower bounds to these two entropies in a compact, simple and transparent form. The upper bounds to Sρ are given in terms of radial expectation values <rα≳ and/or the mean logarithmic radii <ln r≳ and <(ln r)2≳, whereas the lower bounds depend on the momentum expectation values <pα≳ and/or the mean logarithmic momenta <ln p≳ and <(ln p)2≳. Similar bounds to Sγ are also shown in a parallel way. A near Hartree–Fock numerical analysis for all atoms with Z≤54 shows that some of these bounds are so tight that they may be used as computational values for the corresponding quantities. The role of the mean logarithmic radius <ln r≳ and the mean logarithmic momentum <ln p≳ in the i...

Fisher Information and Steric Effect: Study of the Internal Rotation Barrier of Ethane

On the basis of a density-based quantification of the steric effect [Liu, S. B. J. Chem. Phys.2007, 126, 244103], the origin of the internal rotation barrier between the eclipsed and staggered conformers of ethane is systematically investigated in this work from an information-theoretical point of view by using the Fisher information measure in conjugated spaces. Two kinds of computational approaches are considered in this work: adiabatic (with optimal structure) and vertical (with fixed geometry). The analyses are performed systematically by following, in each case, the conformeric path by changing the dihedral angle from 0 to 180° . This is calculated at the HF, MP2, B3LYP, and CCSD(T) levels of theory and with several basis sets. Selected descriptors of the densities are utilized to support the observations. Our results show that in the adiabatic case the eclipsed conformer possesses a larger steric repulsion than the staggered conformer, but in the vertical cases the staggered conformer retains a larger steric repulsion. Our results verify the plausibility for defining and computing the steric effect in the post-Hartree-Fock level of theory according to the scheme proposed by Liu.

Fisher Information Study in Position and Momentum Spaces for Elementary Chemical Reactions.

The utility of the Fisher information measure is analyzed to detect the transition state, the stationary points of a chemical reaction, and the bond breaking/forming regions of elementary reactions such as the simplest hydrogen abstraction and the identity SN2 exchange ones. This is performed by following the intrinsic reaction path calculated at the MP2 and QCISD(T) levels of theory with a 6-311++G(3df, 2p) basis set. Selected descriptors of both position and momentum space densities are utilized to support the observations, such as the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), the hardness, the dipole moment, along with geometrical parameters. Our results support the concept of a continuum of transient of Zewail and Polanyi for the transition state rather than a single state, which is also in agreement with reaction force analyses.

Fisher and Jensen-Shannon divergences: Quantitative comparisons among distributions. Application to position and momentum atomic densities.

The Fisher divergence (FD) and Jensen-Shannon divergence (JSD) are used in this work with the aim of providing quantitative measures of the discrepancies between two arbitrary D-dimensional distribution functions, the FD being of local character and the JSD of global one. In doing so, the concepts of Fisher information and Shannon entropy associated to a distribution are the essential quantities for building up these comparative functionals. This kind of relative measures are here applied to the study of the one-particle densities in both conjugated spaces (position and momentum) of neutral atoms, discussing the results as compared to those provided by other previous functional measures. It is clearly shown how these divergences provide relevant information on the atomic shell structure, up to a level which depends on the considered space and measure.

Atomic quantum similarity indices in position and momentum spaces

Quantum similarity for atoms is investigated using electron densities in position and momentum spaces. Contrary to the results in position space, the analysis in the momentum space shows how the momentum density carries fundamental information about periodicity and structure of the system and reveals the pattern of Mendeleevs table. A global analysis in the joint r-p space keeps this result.

The Hausdorff entropic moment problem

Our aim in this paper is twofold. First, to find the necessary and sufficient conditions to be satisfied by a given sequence of real numbers {ωn}n=0∞ to represent the “entropic moments” ∫[0,a][ρ(x)]ndx of an unknown non-negative, decreasing and differentiable (a.e.) density function ρ(x) with a finite interval support. These moments are called entropic moments because they are closely connected with various information entropies (Renyi, Tsallis, …). Second, we outline an efficient method for the reconstruction of the density function from the knowledge of its first N entropic moments.

Quantum entanglement and the dissociation process of diatomic molecules

In this work, we investigate quantum entanglement-related aspects of the dissociation process of some selected, representative homo- and heteronuclear diatomic molecules. This study is based upon high-quality ab initio calculations of the (correlated) molecular wavefunctions involved in the dissociation processes. The values of the electronic entanglement characterizing the system in the limit cases corresponding to (i) the united-atom representation and (ii) the asymptotic region when atoms dissociate are discussed in detail. It is also shown that the behaviour of the electronic entanglement as a function of the reaction coordinate R exhibits remarkable correspondences with the phenomenological description of the physically meaningful regimes comprising the processes under study. In particular, the extrema of the total energies and the electronic entanglement are shown to be associated with the main physical changes experienced by the molecular spatial electronic density, such as charge depletion and accumulation or bond cleavage regions. These structural changes are characterized by several selected descriptors of the density, such as the Laplacian of the electronic molecular distributions (LAP), the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) and the atomic electric potentials fitted to the MEP.

Inverse atomic densities and inequalities among density functionals

Rigorous relationships among physically relevant quantities of atomic systems (e.g., kinetic, exchange, and electron–nucleus attraction energies, information entropy) are obtained and numerically analyzed. They are based on the properties of inverse functions associated to the one-particle density of the system. Some of the new inequalities are of great accuracy and/or improve similar ones previously known, and their validity extends to other many-fermion systems and to arbitrary dimensionality.