Magnus Ringholm

Analytic cubic and quartic force fields using density-functional theory

We present the first analytic implementation of cubic and quartic force constants at the level of Kohn-Sham density-functional theory. The implementation is based on an open-ended formalism for the evaluation of energy derivatives in an atomic-orbital basis. The implementation relies on the availability of open-ended codes for evaluation of one- and two-electron integrals differentiated with respect to nuclear displacements as well as automatic differentiation of the exchange-correlation kernels. We use generalized second-order vibrational perturbation theory to calculate the fundamental frequencies of methane, ethane, benzene, and aniline, comparing B3LYP, BLYP, and Hartree-Fock results. The Hartree-Fock anharmonic corrections agree well with the B3LYP corrections when calculated at the B3LYP geometry and from B3LYP normal coordinates, suggesting that the inclusion of electron correlation is not essential for the reliable calculation of cubic and quartic force constants.

A general, recursive, and open‐ended response code

We present a new implementation of a recent open‐ended response theory formulation for time‐ and perturbation‐dependent basis sets (Thorvaldsen et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2008, 129, 214108) at the Hartree–Fock and density functional levels of theory. A novel feature of the new implementation is the use of recursive programming techniques, making it possible to write highly compact code for the analytic calculation of any response property at any valid choice of rule for the order of perturbation at which to include perturbed density matrices. The formalism is expressed in terms of the density matrix in the atomic orbital basis, allowing the recursive scheme presented here to be used in linear‐scaling formulations of response theory as well as with two‐ and four‐component relativistic wave functions. To demonstrate the new code, we present calculations of the third geometrical derivatives of the frequency‐dependent second hyperpolarizability for HSOH at the Hartree–Fock level of theory, a seventh‐order energy derivative involving basis sets that are both time and perturbation dependent.

Open-ended response theory with polarizable embedding: multiphoton absorption in biomolecular systems.

We present the theory and implementation of an open-ended framework for electric response properties at the level of Hartree-Fock and Kohn-Sham density functional theory that includes effects from the molecular environment modeled by the polarizable embedding (PE) model. With this new state-of-the-art multiscale functionality, electric response properties to any order can be calculated for molecules embedded in polarizable atomistic molecular environments ranging from solvents to complex heterogeneous macromolecules such as proteins. In addition, environmental effects on multiphoton absorption (MPA) properties can be studied by evaluating single residues of the response functions. The PE approach includes mutual polarization effects between the quantum and classical parts of the system through induced dipoles that are determined self-consistently with respect to the electronic density. The applicability of our approach is demonstrated by calculating MPA strengths up to four-photon absorption for the green fluorescent protein. We show how the size of the quantum region, as well as the treatment of the border between the quantum and classical regions, is crucial in order to obtain reliable MPA predictions.

Analytic calculations of hyper-Raman spectra from density functional theory hyperpolarizability gradients

We present the first analytic calculations of the geometrical gradients of the first hyperpolarizability tensors at the density-functional theory (DFT) level. We use the analytically calculated hyperpolarizability gradients to explore the importance of electron correlation effects, as described by DFT, on hyper-Raman spectra. In particular, we calculate the hyper-Raman spectra of the all-trans and 11-cis isomers of retinal at the Hartree-Fock (HF) and density-functional levels of theory, also allowing us to explore the sensitivity of the hyper-Raman spectra on the geometrical characteristics of these structurally related molecules. We show that the HF results, using B3LYP-calculated vibrational frequencies and force fields, reproduce the experimental data for all-trans-retinal well, and that electron correlation effects are of minor importance for the hyper-Raman intensities.

Open-ended recursive calculation of single residues of response functions for perturbation-dependent basis sets.

We present theory, implementation, and applications of a recursive scheme for the calculation of single residues of response functions that can treat perturbations that affect the basis set. This scheme enables the calculation of nonlinear light absorption properties to arbitrary order for other perturbations than an electric field. We apply this scheme for the first treatment of two-photon circular dichroism (TPCD) using London orbitals at the Hartree-Fock level of theory. In general, TPCD calculations suffer from the problem of origin dependence, which has so far been solved by using the velocity gauge for the electric dipole operator. This work now enables comparison of results from London orbital and velocity gauge based TPCD calculations. We find that the results from the two approaches both exhibit strong basis set dependence but that they are very similar with respect to their basis set convergence.

Hyper Raman spectra calculated in a time-dependent Hartree-Fock method

Hyper Raman scattering (HRS) of the benzonitrile (BN) and 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane (RDX) molecules is studied by means of ab initio calculations. The computational procedure employs a recently developed methodology for the analytic calculations of frequency-dependent polarizability gradients of arbitrary order, including perturbation dependent basis sets. The result are compared to normal Raman scattering (NRS) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) that previously have been studied using the same technology. It is found that some suppressed or silent modes in CARS and NRS spectra are clearly seen in HRS, and that although under general excitation conditions the HRS intensities are much lower than for CARS and NRS, HRS provides complementary information useful for target identification.

Geometric Energy Derivatives at the Complete Basis Set Limit: Application to the Equilibrium Structure and Molecular Force Field of Formaldehyde

Geometric energy derivatives which rely on core-corrected focal-point energies extrapolated to the complete basis set (CBS) limit of coupled cluster theory with iterative and noniterative quadruple excitations, CCSDTQ and CCSDT(Q), are used as elements of molecular gradients and, in the case of CCSDT(Q), expansion coefficients of an anharmonic force field. These gradients are used to determine the CCSDTQ/CBS and CCSDT(Q)/CBS equilibrium structure of the S0 ground state of H2CO where excellent agreement is observed with previous work and experimentally derived results. A fourth-order expansion about this CCSDT(Q)/CBS reference geometry using the same level of theory produces an exceptional level of agreement to spectroscopically observed vibrational band origins with a MAE of 0.57 cm-1. Second-order vibrational perturbation theory (VPT2) and variational discrete variable representation (DVR) results are contrasted and discussed. Vibration-rotation, anharmonicity, and centrifugal distortion constants from the VPT2 analysis are reported and compared to previous work. Additionally, an initial application of a sum-over-states fourth-order vibrational perturbation theory (VPT4) formalism is employed herein, utilizing quintic and sextic derivatives obtained with a recursive algorithmic approach for response theory.

Analytic calculations of anharmonic infrared and Raman vibrational spectra

Using a recent recursive scheme for the calculation of high-order geometric derivatives of molecular properties, we present the first analytic calculations of infrared and Raman spectra including anharmonicity both in the vibrational frequencies and in the IR and Raman intensities.

Analytic density functional theory calculations of pure vibrational hyperpolarizabilities: The first dipole hyperpolarizability of retinal and related molecules

We present a general approach for the analytic calculation of pure vibrational contributions to the molecular (hyper)polarizabilities at the density functional level of theory. The analytic approach allows us to study large molecules, and we apply the new code to the study of the first dipole hyperpolarizabilities of retinal and related molecules. We investigate the importance of electron correlation as described by the B3LYP exchange-correlation functional on the pure vibrational and electronic hyperpolarizabilities and compare the computed hyperpolarizabilities with available experimental data. The effects of electron correlation on the pure vibrational corrections vary signficantly even between these structurally very similar molecules, making it difficult to estimate these effects without explicit calculations at the density functional theory level. As expected, the frequency-dependent first hyperpolarizability, which determines the experimentally observed second-harmonic generation, is dominated by the electronic term, whereas for the static hyperpolarizability, the vibrational contribution is equally important. As a consequence, frequency extrapolation of the measured optical hyperpolarizabilities can only provide an estimate for the electronic contribution to the static hyperpolarizability, not its total value. The relative values of the hyperpolarizabilities for different molecules, obtained from the calculations, are in reasonable agreement with experimental data.

Gauge-origin independent calculations of electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation circular intensity difference using London atomic orbitals

ABSTRACT We present the first gauge-origin independent calculations of the circular intensity difference (CID) in electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation (EFISHG), including all contributions up to the electric-quadrupole–magnetic-dipole level. A recursive, open-ended response theory framework in combination with the use of London atomic orbitals allows us to ensure gauge-origin independent results. We apply this approach to study EFISHG-CID in a collection of chiral amino acids. We demonstrate that diffuse polarising basis functions are critical in order to obtain accurate CIDs, and that a basis set of at least aug-cc-pVTZ quality is needed in order to obtain results close to the basis-set limit. The use of London orbitals does not lead to significantly faster basis set convergence, although the improved basis set convergence allows the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set to be used with some confidence for larger molecules.