Resonances in the entrance channel of the elementary chemical reaction of fluorine and methane.

Extending the fully quantum-state-resolved description of elementary chemical reactions beyond three or four atom systems is a crucial issue in fundamental chemical research. Reactions of methane with F, Cl, H or O are key examples that have been studied prominently. In particular, reactive resonances and nonintuitive mode-selective chemistry have been reported in experimental studies for the F+CH4 →HF+CH3 reaction. By investigating this reaction using transition-state spectroscopy, this joint theoretical and experimental study provides a clear picture of resonances in the F+CH4 system. This picture is deduced from high-resolution slow electron velocity-map imaging (SEVI) spectra and accurate full-dimensional (12D) quantum dynamics simulations in the picosecond regime.

Coupled potential energy surface for the F(2P)+CH4→HF+CH3 entrance channel and quantum dynamics of the CH4·F- photodetachment.

An approach to construct vibronically and spin-orbit coupled diabatic potential energy surfaces (PESs) which describe all three relevant electronic states in the entrance channels of the X(P) + CH4 →HX + CH3 reactions (with X=F((2)P), Cl((2)P), or O((3)P)) is introduced. The diabatization relies on the permutational symmetry present in the methane molecule and results in diabatic states which transform as the three p orbitals of the X atom. Spin-orbit coupling is easily and accurately included using the atomic spin-orbit coupling matrix of the isolated X atom. The method is applied to the F + CH4 system obtaining an accurate PES for the entrance channel based on ab initio multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) calculations. Comparing the resulting PESs with spin-orbit MRCI calculations, excellent agreement is found for the excited electronic states at all relevant geometries. The photodetachment spectrum of CH4·F(-) is investigated via full-dimensional (12D) quantum dynamics calculations on the coupled PESs using the multi-layer multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree approach. Extending previous work [J. Palma and U. Manthe, J. Chem. Phys. 137, 044306 (2012)], which was restricted to the dynamics on a single adiabatic PES, the contributions of the electronically excited states to the photodetachment spectrum are calculated and compared to experiment. Considering different experimental setups, good agreement between experiment and theory is found. Addressing questions raised in the previous work, the present dynamical calculations show that the main contribution to the second peak in the photodetachment spectrum results from electron detachment into the electronically excited states of the CH4F complex.

Decoherence induced by conical intersections: complexity constrained quantum dynamics of photoexcited pyrazine.

Decoherence effects induced by conical intersecting potential energy surfaces are studied employing the correlation-based von Neumann (CvN) entropy which provides a measure of the complexity of the underlying wavefunction. As a prototypical example, the S(0) → S(2) excitation in pyrazine is investigated. The 24-dimensional wavepacket dynamics calculations presented utilize the multi-layer extension of the multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) approach. An efficient numerical scheme is introduced which facilitates CvN entropy constrained wavepacket propagation within the multi-layer MCTDH approach. In unconstrained multi-layer MCTDH calculations, the CvN-entropy is found to provide a valuable analytical tool for studying the decoherence phenomena present. Investigating the CvN entropy after the S(0) → S(2) excitation as a function of time, a clear separation of time scales is obtained. It can be related to the different dynamical phenomena present: the initial transfer from the upper (S(2)) to the lower (S(1)) adiabatic electronic states rapidly generates vast amounts of CvN-entropy, while the subsequent motion on the anharmonic lower adiabatic potential energy surface only yields a slow increase of the CvN-entropy. Employing CvN-entropy constrained calculations, the sensitivity of the autocorrelation function, the absorption spectrum, and the diabatic electronic population dynamics to complexity constraints is analyzed in detail.

First principle nonlinear quantum dynamics using a correlation-based von Neumann entropy.

A new concept to describe the quantum dynamics in complex systems is suggested. It extends established schemes based on the Dirac-Frenkel variation principle, e.g., the multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) approach. The concept is based on a correlation-based von Neumann entropy (CvN-entropy) definition measuring the complexity of the wavefunction. Equations of motion are derived using a CvN-entropy constraint in the variational principle and result in a generally applicable effective Hamiltonian. It consists of the standard Hamilton operator and an additional nonlinear operator which limits the complexity of the wavefunction. Effectively, this nonlinear operator absorbs complex structures which are emerging in the wavefunction and allows one to introduce non-norm conserving equations of motion. Important aspects of the new concept are outlined studying the wave packet propagation on the diabatic B(2) potential energy surfaces of NO(2). First, it is demonstrated that during standard wave packet propagation the CvN-entropy increases strongly with time roughly independent of the coordinate systems employed. Second, one finds that employing CvN-entropy constrained MCTDH propagation yields improved wave function accuracy on longer time scales while compromising on the short time accuracy. Third, the loss of the wavefunction's norm is directly related to the overlap with the exact wavefunction. This provides an error estimate available without knowing an exact reference.

Photodissociation of methyl iodide embedded in a host-guest complex: a full dimensional (189D) quantum dynamics study of CH3I@resorc[4]arene.

Accurate full dimensional quantum dynamics calculations studying the photodissociation of CH(3)I@resorc[4]arene on an ab initio based potential energy surface (PES) model are reported. The converged 189D quantum dynamics calculations are facilitated by the multilayer multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree (ML-MCTDH) approach combined with the correlation discrete variable representation (CDVR) for the evaluation of potential energy matrix elements. The potential employed combines an established ab initio PES describing the photodissociation of methyl iodide in the A band with a harmonic description of the resorc[4]arene host and a bilinear modeling of the host-guest interaction. All potential parameters required in the description of the vibrations of the host molecule and the host-guest interaction are derived from ab initio calculations on the host-guest complex. Absorption spectra at 0 K and 300 K are calculated and the electronic population dynamics during the bond breaking process occurring in the first 20-30 fs after the photoexcitation is investigated. Weak but significant effects resulting from the host-guest interaction on this time scale are found and interpreted. The present study demonstrates that accurate fully quantum mechanical dynamics calculations can be preformed for systems consisting of more than 50 atoms using the ML-MCTDH/CDVR approach. Utilizing an efficient statistical approach for the construction of the ensemble of initial wavepackets, these calculations are not restricted to zero temperature but can also study the dynamics at 300 K.