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Notes: Semiclassical molecular dynamics simulations are developed as a tool for studying anharmonic clusters and solids at energies near the zero point. The method employs the time-dependent self-consistent-field approximation, that describes each mode as moving in the mean dynamical field of all other modes. The method further describes each mode by a semiclassical Gaussian wave packet. The scheme is carried out in normal modes. The method is restricted to systems of moderate anharmonicity at low temperatures. It is, however, computationally efficient and practically applicable to large systems. It can be used for the dynamics of nonstationary states as well as for stationary ones. Structural, dynamical and a variety of spectroscopic properties can easily be evaluated. The method is tested for thermal equilibrium states of (Ne)13, (Ar)13 against "numerically exact'' quantum Feynman path integral simulations. Excellent quantitative agreement is found for the atom–atom pair distribution functions. The method is also applied to (H2O)n clusters. Good agreement is found with experimentally available fundamental stretch-mode frequencies. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Møller–Plesset perturbation theory is employed to improve the accuracy of static mean field computations in molecular vibration problems. This method is a simple and efficient way to get nearly exact frequencies for few-mode model potentials. For more realistic potentials representing the dynamics of water and formaldehyde, the Møller–Plesset treatment works equally as well. However, we find in general that MP2 level corrections give very accurate energies and additional corrections by higher level terms in the MP series are not substantial. Moreover, we find that for reference states on high energy manifolds degeneracies can result when higher level terms are included in the series. We discuss several ways to remove these degeneracies. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Quantum and mixed quantum/classical calculations of the photolysis of a HCl adsorbate on a MgO surface are reported. In the quantum calculation of the hydrogen dynamics (with rigid surface and chlorine atoms) a strong oscillatory structure is found in the angular distribution of the photofragmented hydrogen as well as in the absorption spectrum. These resonances are caused by temporary trapping of the hydrogen atom between the chlorine atom and the surface and reflect the initial perpendicular adsorption geometry. Corrugation of the surface potential leads to a significant modification of these interference patterns, which exist even for a flat surface. Within a mixed quantum/classical time-dependent self-consistent field (Q/C TDSCF) propagation the influence of surface degrees of freedom on the interference patterns is investigated. The thermal motion of the surface and inelastic collisions of the hydrogen atom with the surface and the chlorine atom washes out most of the oscillatory structure. In the fully angular and energy resolved spectra nevertheless clearly distinguishable peaks are seen. They can be used in practice to extract information about adsorption geometry and surface potential parameters. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The dynamics of Cl(2P) atoms in a solid Ar matrix is studied, with emphasis on electronic energy relaxation of excited states, and on p-orbital reorientation effects. The method used follows Tully's approach for nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations, which treats the electronic degrees of freedom quantum-mechanically, and the atomic motions classically, allowing for "hopping'' of the atoms between different potential energy surfaces. We introduce an extended version of this method, to handle "Berry Phase'' effects due to the doubly degenerate Kramers pairs of states present in this system. The role of both electrostatic and of spin–orbit interactions between different electronic states is incorporated in the treatment. The simulations yield a time scale of 13 ps for the energy relaxation of the highest excited electronic state of Cl(2P). A time scale of similar magnitude is found for the depolarization of this state. However, the time scale for orbital reorientation at thermal conditions is only 0.7 ps. This is attributed to the fact that at thermal conditions, only the two lowest electronic states are populated. The physical mechanisms of these basic radiationless decay processes are discussed on the basis of the simulations. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The time-dependent self-consistent-field (TDSCF) approximation is used to study the photodissociation of the Ar–HCl cluster in a three-dimensional framework. The results are compared with numerically exact quantum calculations, and the properties and accuracy of the TDSCF approach are evaluated on this basis. The TDSCF approximation is used in Jacobi coordinates, and the total wave function is factorized into a wave packet for two coordinates associated with the H atom, and a wave packet for a single coordinate that describes the relative motion of the heavy particles. Quantitative agreement between the TDSCF and the exact results is found for most quantities calculated. The calculations show that photodissociation, and in particular the departure of the H atom is predominantly a direct process, but an appreciable amount of wave packet amplitude moving in excited state resonances is also found. This amplitude seems significantly larger than obtained in recent calculations by Schröder et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 100, 7239 (1994); Chem. Phys. Lett. 235, 316 (1995)]. The validity and computational efficiency of the TDSCF approach for realistic systems of this type is discussed. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The photodissociation of HCl/MgO (001) is studied by classical molecular dynamics of a single adsorbate system including the substrate phonon modes. An important quantum effect is accounted for by taking the hydrogen coordinates and momenta in the initial state from a vibrational ground state wave function. In the angular distribution of the scattered photofragments characteristic structures due to rainbows, scattering shadow and resonances are found, that are already well described within the rigid surface approximation. The hydrogen kinetic energy release also shows a pronounced peak structure corresponding to different energy transfer mechanisms and is significantly affected by inclusion of energy transfer to the phonon modes. Due to multiple collisions with the surface and the chlorine, the hydrogen can lose more than 3.5 eV of its 4.7 eV excess energy. The angular resolved energy spectrum is explained by several types of trajectories connected with the above mechanisms. The results suggest further that the different mechanisms can be separated in an experiment. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulations are carried out for scattering of high-energy Xe atoms off liquid squalane, and the results are compared with those of molecular-beam scattering experiments. A crude model for squalane is adopted, describing the hydrocarbon chain molecule as a sphere, and ignoring the role of internal modes. Good overall agreement is found between the results of the simulations and experiment, both for angular distributions and for trends in energy transfer properties. In particular, excellent agreement is obtained for the dependence of the energy transfer on the deflection angle for in-plane scattering. Theory predicts less trapping events than found experimentally, probably due to the crude model adopted for the squalane molecules. The partial success of the model in predicting some properties and not others is discussed. The other main conclusions of the study are (1) The instantaneous local structure of the liquid surface is highly corrugated, giving rise to a broad angular distribution and to extensive out-of-plane scattering. (2) High-energy atoms undergo both a trapping desorption and also direct inelastic scattering, the latter yielding information on liquid structure. (3) The angular distribution of atoms at a selected final velocity is sensitive to the local structure and dynamics of the surface. (4) The direct scattering can be conveniently interpreted in terms of contributions from single, double, and multiple collision events, these being roughly equal in relative weight. Forward scattering at grazing angle is dominated by single collisions, while double and multiple collisions have higher contribution at other directions. The double collision contribution in particular contains structural information. (5) There is a substantial yield per collision for sputtering of the squalane-like soft spheres. These results provide insight into the dynamics of gas–liquid collisions, and indicate the usefulness of beam scattering as a tool for studying liquid structure and dynamics.

Notes: A study has been made of the vibrational energy flow mechanisms and time scales pertaining to the overtone stretch excitations of methyl and acetylenic CH stretches in propyne. Classical trajectories are used to interpret the experimental data for the overtone linewidths, as well as to analyze the role that individual modes play in determining energy flow. The full anharmonic potential surface for these calculations, including all modes, has been developed from spectroscopic and structural information, including the linewidth data. The principal results are: (1) The trajectory calculations show a localization transition, corresponding to a switch over from normal-mode behavior for CH3 excitations up to v≅3 to a local-mode CH excitation within the CH3 moiety for excitations of v(approximately-greater-than)6, with transition behavior for v=4,5. (2) The acetylenic CH shows local-mode behavior from v=1. Extremely long lifetimes are found for the excitations of this mode, and the trajectories indicate that the experimental width is predominantly rotational. (3) The rocking and deformation modes are dominant receiving modes in the relaxation of the methyl stretch. (4) A shorter lifetime is calculated for the v=6 vs the v=5 or v=7 overtones of the methyl C–H stretch. Experimental results are qualitatively consistent with this prediction. The origin of this shorter lifetime is a band of resonances between the stretch excitation and combinations of rocking, deformation, and pseudorotation modes. (5) CH3 internal rotation figures importantly in the relaxation of some levels (v=5, 8 of CH3) where it "closes the energy gap'' for achieving resonant energy transfer. (6) For v=8 of the methyl CH, some direct energy transfer to both C–C(Triple Bond)C stretching modes is seen. The switching on of the stretches as receiving modes is a consequence of sufficiently strong interactions between the excited H and the C–C(Triple Bond)C chain, which take place at these high vibrational energies. (7) Evidence is found for long distance "through-space'' energy transfer due to long-range dipole–dipole forces. This transfer occurs from the acetylenic to the methyl CH stretches. This result is illustrated for the v=2 excitation of the acetylenichydrogen, and constitutes a direct demonstration of intramolecular long-distance, through-space v–v energy transfer. These results demonstrate the potential importance of large amplitude modes such as rocking and deformation as initial receiving modes for vibrational energy from excited CH overtones. On the time scale probed here (∼1 ps), despite the availability of many degrees of freedom, the transfer process is dominated by specific energy transfer channels and by the specific behavior of individual modes, rather than by statistical considerations, which will certainly prevail on longer time scales.

Notes: The self-consistent field (SCF) approximation for coupled anharmonic vibrations is applied to the calculation of vibrational energy levels (predissociation resonances) of collinear models of I2 (v)He and I2 (v)Ne, with vibrational quantum number v between 5 and 30. The predissociation lifetimes of these same states are obtained from a distorted wave Born approximation calculation with self-consistent field states taken as the initial states of the complex, and with correlation between the modes taken as the interactions leading to decay. Although the binding energies of the van der Waals complex are very small (order of several cm−1 ), the SCF eigenvalues are in remarkable agreement with the exact numerical values. The lifetimes obtained from the SCF-distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) are compared with calculations in which the initial state is treated more simply, assuming separability of the modes involved. Results then show that the DWBA with SCF initial states is considerably more accurate than with the more primitive initial state choice. We conclude from these results that the self-consistent field method offers a very accurate description of large-amplitude vibrational motions in van der Waals clusters, with good quantitative results for both the energy levels and predissociation dynamics of these species.

Notes: The scattering of He atoms from a CO molecule adsorbed on a Pt surface is studied theoretically by methods that include: (1) Numerically exact solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the scattered wavepacket; (2) The sudden approximation; (3) Classical trajectories. The methods are used to obtain detailed insight into the collision dynamics, and to predict and understand interesting features in the angular intensity distribution of the scattered atoms. The analysis and interpretation of the exact quantum results is facilitated by calculations of the probability current density of the scattered particles. Some of the main results are: (i) The angular intensity distribution exhibits nonspecular maxima of two types: Several of the peaks are rainbow effects induced by the adsorbate, while others (at angles nearer to the specular) are Fraunhofer diffraction interferences. Both types of peaks contain useful, largely complementary, information on adsorbate geometry and on the He/adsorbate interaction. (ii) The angular intensity distribution is quantitatively sensitive to the adsorbate distance from the surface, suggesting possible determination of that distance from experimental data. (iii) The corrugation due to the adsorbate leads to scattering resonances associated with temporary trapping of the scattered atom at the defect site. This is a new effect of potential importance for experimental studies of atom/defect interactions. The results obtained here suggest that He scattering from isolated adsorbates exhibits distinct, substantial effects, measurement of which should yield very useful data on the adsorbates and on their interactions with gas-phase atoms.