Sign-consistent dynamical couplings betweenab initiothree-center wave functions

Ionization and Single and Double Electron Capture in Proton-Ar Collisions

Total cross sections for formation of H and H^-, and electron production, in H⁺ + Ar collisions have been calculated at energies between 100 eV and 200 keV by employing two methods: for E < 10 keV, a semiclassical treatment with an expansion in a basis of electronic wave functions of the ArH⁺ quasimolecule and, for E > 10 keV, the switching-classical-trajectory-Monte Carlo method (s-CTMC). The semiclassical calculation involves transitions to molecular autoionizing states, calculated by applying a block-diagonalization technique. The s-CTMC method is adept to treat two-electron processes and yields total cross sections for H^- formation in reasonably good agreement with the experimental data. Cross sections for electron- and H-production processes, which are dominated by one-electron transitions, are in good agreement with the experimental data.

A study of conical intersections for the H3(+) system

A parametrization of the three asymptotic conical intersections between the energies of the H3(+) ground state and the first excited singlet state is presented. The influence of an additional, fourth conical intersection between the first and second excited states at the equilateral geometry on the connection between the three conical regions is studied, for both diatomics-in-molecules and ab initio molecular data.

Study of ab initio molecular data for inelastic and reactive collisions involving the H3+ quasimolecule

The lowest two ab initio potential energy surfaces (PES), and the corresponding nonadiabatic couplings between them, have been obtained for the H3+ system; the molecular data are compared to those calculated with the diatomic in molecules (DIM) method. The form of the couplings is discussed in terms of the topology of the molecular structure of the triatomic. The method of Baer is employed to generate "diabatic" states and the residual nonadiabatic couplings are calculated. The ab initio results for these are markedly different from the corresponding DIM data, and show the need to consider the third PES.

Assigning signs to the electronic nonadiabatic coupling terms: The {H2,O} system as a case study

This paper is devoted to a specific difficulty related to the electronic nonadiabatic coupling terms (NACT), namely, how to determine correctly their signs. It is well known that correct NACTs, including their signs, are crucial for any numerical treatment of the nuclear Schrodinger equation [see, i.e., A. Kuppermaan and R. Abrol, Adv. Chem. Phys. 124, 283 (2003)]. In most cases the derivation of the correct sign of the nonadiabatic coupling matrix (NACM) is done employing various continuity procedures. However, there are cases where these procedures do not suffice and for these cases we suggest to apply an additional procedure based on a mathematical lemma which asserts that the exponentiated line integral which yields the D matrix is invariant with respect to the initial point of the integration [M. Baer, J. Phys. Chem. A 104, 3181 (2000)]. In the numerical study we apply this lemma to determine the signs of the 3x3 NACM elements for the three excited states of the {H(2),O} system (some of these NACTs are presented here for the first time). It turns out that the ab initio treatment yields results from which one can form eight different 3x3 NACMs. However the application of this lemma (which does not require any significant additional numerical effort) reduces this number to two. The final selection is done by an enhanced numerical study which requires more accurate calculations.