Towards a complete elucidation of the ro-vibrational band structure in the SF6 infrared spectrum from full quantum-mechanical calculations.

The first accurate and complete theoretical room-temperature rotationally resolved spectra in the range 300-3000 cm-1 are reported for the three most abundant isotopologues (32SF6, 33SF6 and 34SF6) of the sulfur hexafluoride molecule. The literature reports that SF6 is widely used as a prototype molecule for studying the multi-photon excitation processes with powerful lasers in the infrared range. On the other hand, SF6 is an important greenhouse molecule with a very long lifetime in the atmosphere. Because of relatively low vibrational frequencies, the hot bands of this molecule contribute significantly to the absorption infrared spectra even at room temperature. This makes the calculation of complete rovibrational line lists required for fully converged opacity modeling extremely demanding. In order to reduce the computational costs, symmetry was exploited at all stages of the first global variational nuclear motion calculations by means of irreducible tensor operators. More than 2600 new vibrational band centers were predicted using our empirically refined ab initio potential energy surface. Highly excited rotational states were calculated up to J = 121, resulting in 6 billion transitions computed from an ab initio dipole moment surface and distributed over more than 500 cold and hot bands. The final line lists are made available through the TheoReTS information system (http://theorets.univ-reims.fr, http://theorets.tsu.ru). For the first time, the major (ro)vibrational band structures in the wavenumber range corresponding to the strongest absorption in the infra-red are completely elucidated for a seven-atom molecule, providing excellent agreement with the observed spectral patterns. It is shown that the obtained results are more complete than all available line lists, permitting reliable modelling of the temperature dependence of the molecular opacity.

Diagonal Born-Oppenheimer corrections to the ground electronic state potential energy surfaces of ozone: improvement of ab initio vibrational band centers for the 16O3, 17O3 and 18O3 isotopologues.

Mass-dependent diagonal Born-Oppenheimer corrections (DBOCs) to the ab initio electronic ground state potential energy surface for the main 16O3 isotopologue and for homogeneous isotopic substitutions 17O3 and 18O3 of the ozone molecule are reported for the first time. The system being of strongly multiconfigurational character, multireference configuration interaction wave function ansatz with different complete active spaces was used. The reliable DBOC calculations with the targeted accuracy were possible to carry out up to about half of the dissociation threshold D0. The comparison with the experimental band centers shows a significant improvement of the accuracy with respect to the best Born-Oppenheimer (BO) ab initio calculations reducing the total root-mean-squares (calculated-observed) deviations by about a factor of two. For the set of 16O3 vibrations up to five bending and four stretching quanta, the mean (calculated-observed) deviations drop down from 0.7 cm-1 (BO) to about 0.1 cm-1, with the most pronounced improvement seen for bending states and for mixed bending-stretching polyads. In the case of bending band centers directly observed under high spectral resolutions, the errors are reduced by more than an order of magnitude down to 0.02 cm-1 from the observed levels, approaching nearly experimental accuracy. A similar improvement for heavy isotopologues shows that the reported DBOC corrections almost remove the systematic BO errors in vibrational levels below D0/2, though the scatter increases towards higher energies. The possible reasons for this finding, as well as remaining issues are discussed in detail. The reported results provide an encouraging accuracy validation for the multireference methods of the ab initio theory. New sets of ab initio vibrational states can be used for improving effective spectroscopic models for analyses of the observed high-resolution spectra, particularly in the cases of accidental resonances with "dark" states requiring accurate theoretical predictions.

Derivation of ρ-dependent coordinate transformations for nonrigid molecules in the Hougen-Bunker-Johns formalism.

In this paper, we report a series of transformations for the construction of a Hamiltonian model for nonrigid polyatomic molecules in the framework of the Hougen-Bunker-Johns formalism (HBJ). This model is expressed in normal mode coordinates for small vibrations and in a specific coordinate ρ to describe the large amplitude motion. For the first time, a general procedure linking the "true" curvilinear coordinates to ρ is proposed, allowing the expression of the potential energy part in the same coordinate representation as the kinetic energy operator, whatever the number of atoms. A Lie group-based method is also proposed for the derivation of the reference configuration in the internal axis system. This work opens new perspectives for future high-resolution spectroscopy studies of nonrigid, medium-sized molecules using HBJ-type Hamiltonians. Illustrative examples and computation of vibrational energy levels on semirigid and nonrigid molecules are given to validate this method.

First Full-Dimensional Potential Energy and Dipole Moment Surfaces of SF6.

A 15-dimensional analytical form for the potential energy and dipole moment surfaces of the SF6 molecule in the ground electronic state is obtained using ab initio methods. In order to calculate the equilibrium S-F distance, we applied the coupled cluster CCSD(T) method and several versions of the correlation-consistent basis sets from valence triple-zeta (VTZ) and augmented valence triple-zeta (AVTZ) to core-valence quadruple-zeta (CVQZ) with Douglas-Kroll (DK) relativistic corrections that provided good agreement with an empirical equilibrium value. Ab initio electronic energies on 15D grids of nuclear geometries are computed using the CCSD(T) method with VTZ and CVQZ-DK basis sets. The analytical representation of the potential energy surface is determined through an expansion in symmetry-adapted products of nonlinear coordinates up to the 5th order. The influence of additional redundant coordinates on the quality of the fit was investigated. Parameters of full-dimensional dipole moment surfaces are determined up to the 4th order expansion in normal mode coordinates. For validation of ab initio results, the fundamental vibration frequencies and absorption cross sections of the principal sulfur hexafluoride isotopologue are calculated, giving good agreement with cold (180 K) and room temperature (296 K) experimental spectra. Absorption cross sections calculated from our preliminary line list agree much better with these observations than the simulations using SF6 line-by-line lists constructed from effective models included in currently available spectroscopic databases.

The Role of Ozone Vibrational Resonances in the Isotope Exchange Reaction 16O16O + 18O → 18O16O + 16O: The Time-Dependent Picture.

We consider the time-dependent dynamics of the isotope exchange reaction in collisions between an oxygen molecule and an oxygen atom: 16O16O + 18O → 16O18O + 16O. A theoretical approach using the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method was employed to model the time evolution of the reaction. Two potential surfaces available in the literature were used in the calculations, and the results obtained with the two surfaces are compared with each other as well as with results of a previous theoretical time-independent approach. A good agreement for the reaction probabilities with the previous theoretical results is found. Comparing the results obtained using two potential energy surfaces allows us to understand the role of the reef/shoulder-like feature in the minimum energy path of the reaction in the isotope exchange process. Also, it was found that the distribution of final products of the reaction is highly anisotropic, which agrees with experimental observations and, at the same time, suggests that the family of approximated statistical approaches, assuming a randomized distribution over final exit channels, is not applicable to this case.

Symmetry effects in rotationally resolved spectra of bi-deuterated ethylene: Theoretical line intensities of cis, trans, and as-C2H2D2 isotopomers.

In this paper, we report accurate first-principles variational rovibrational spectra predictions for the three double deuterated ethylene isotopologs denoted as cis, trans, and as-12C2H2D2. Calculations were performed in the framework of the normal-mode approach using our ab initio12C2H4 (D2h) Born-Oppenheimer potential energy and dipole moment surfaces. Symmetry breaking effects under bideuterated H → D substitutions (D2h → C2v/C2h) and their impact on infrared spectra are studied from normal mode transformations. All theoretical spectra simulated at 296 K up to J = 38 are in good agreement, both for line positions and in absorption cross sections, with the experiment. Accurate theoretical line lists providing for the first time intensities of rovibrational transitions are computed for the three species in the range (0-4500) cm-1 and will be available on our TheoReTS information system (http://theorets.univ-reims.fr and http://theorets.tsu.ru). These results can be used for remote sensing retrieval of isotopic species using predicted line intensities and experimentally optimized line positions.

Isotopic and symmetry breaking effects on phosphine spectra under H → D substitutions from ab initio variational calculations.

Variationally computed infrared spectra in the range [0-5000] cm-1 are reported for the deuterated PH2D and PHD2 molecules from accurate potential energy and dipole moment surfaces initially derived for the major isotopologue PH3( C 3 v ). Energy level and line intensity calculations were performed by using a normal-mode model combined with isotopic and symmetry transformations for the H → D substitutions. Theoretical spectra were computed at 296 K up to J max = 30 and will be made available through the TheoReTS information system (http://theorets.univ-reims.fr, http://theorets.tsu.ru). For the very first time, ab initio intensity predictions of PH2D/PHD2 are in good qualitative agreement with the literature. This work will be useful for spectral intensity analysis for which accurate spectral intensity data are still missing.

Highly excited vibrational levels of methane up to 10 300 cm-1: Comparative study of variational methods.

In this work, we report calculated vibrational energy levels of the methane molecule up to 10 300 cm-1. Two potential energy surfaces constructed in quite different coordinate systems with different analytical representations are employed in order to evaluate the uncertainty of vibrational predictions. To calculate methane energy levels, we used two independent techniques of the variational method. One method uses an exact kinetic energy operator in internal curvilinear coordinates. Another one uses an expansion of Eckart-Watson nuclear motion Hamiltonian in rectilinear normal coordinates. In the Icosad range (up to five vibrational quanta bands-below 7800 cm-1), the RMS standard deviations between calculated and observed energy levels were 0.22 cm-1 and 0.41 cm-1 for these two quite different approaches. For experimentally well-known 3v3 sub-levels, the calculation accuracy is estimated to be ∼1 cm-1. In the Triacontad range (7660-9188 cm-1), the average error of the calculation is about 0.5 cm-1. The accuracy and convergence issues for higher energy ranges are discussed.

Understanding global infrared opacity and hot bands of greenhouse molecules with low vibrational modes from first-principles calculations: the case of CF4.

Fluorine containing molecules have a particularly long atmospheric lifetime and their very big estimated global warming potentials are expected to rapidly increase in the future. This work is focused on the global theoretical prediction of infrared spectra of the tetrafluoromethane molecule that is considered as a potentially powerful greenhouse gas having the largest estimated lifetime of over 50 000 years in the atmosphere. The presence of relatively low vibrational frequencies makes the Boltzmann population of the excited levels important. Consequently, the "hot bands" corresponding to transitions among excited rovibrational states contribute significantly to the CF4 opacity in the infrared even at room temperature conditions but the existing laboratory data analyses are not sufficiently complete. In this work, we construct the first accurate and complete ab initio based line lists for CF4 in the range 0-4000 cm-1, containing rovibrational bands that are the most active in absorption. An efficient basis set compression method was applied to predict more than 700 new bands and subbands via variational nuclear motion calculations. We show that already at room temperature a quasi-continuum of overlapping weak lines appears in the CF4 infrared spectra due to the increasing density of bands and transitions. In order to converge the infrared opacity at room temperature, it was necessary to include a high rotational quantum number up to J = 80 resulting in 2 billion rovibrational transitions. In order to make the cross-section simulation faster, we have partitioned our data into two parts: (a) strong & medium line lists with lower energy levels for calculation of selective absorption features that can be used at various temperatures and (b) compressed "super-line" libraries of very weak transitions contributing to the quasi-continuum modelling. Comparisons with raw previously unassigned experimental spectra showed a very good accuracy for integrated absorbance in the entire range of the reported spectra predictions. The data obtained in this work will be made available through the TheoReTS information system (http://theorets.univ-reims.fr, http://theorets.tsu.ru) that contains ab initio born line lists and provides a user-friendly graphical interface for a fast simulation of the CF4 absorption cross-sections and radiance under various temperature conditions from 80 K to 400 K.

Accurate ab initio dipole moment surfaces of ozone: First principle intensity predictions for rotationally resolved spectra in a large range of overtone and combination bands.

Ab initio dipole moment surfaces (DMSs) of the ozone molecule are computed using the MRCI-SD method with AVQZ, AV5Z, and VQZ-F12 basis sets on a dense grid of about 1950 geometrical configurations. The analytical DMS representation used for the fit of ab initio points provides better behavior for large nuclear displacements than that of previous studies. Various DMS models were derived and tested. Vibration-rotation line intensities of 16O3 were calculated from these ab initio surfaces by the variational method using two different potential functions determined in our previous works. For the first time, a very good agreement of first principle calculations with the experiment was obtained for the line-by-line intensities in rotationally resolved ozone spectra in a large far- and mid-infrared range. This includes high overtone and combination bands up to ΔV = 6. A particular challenge was a correct description of the B-type bands (even ΔV3 values) that represented major difficulties for the previous ab initio investigations and for the empirical spectroscopic models. The major patterns of various B-type bands were correctly described without empirically adjusted dipole moment parameters. For the 10 µm range, which is of key importance for the atmospheric ozone retrievals, our ab initio intensity results are within the experimental error margins. The theoretical values for the strongest lines of the ν3 band lie in general between two successive versions of HITRAN (HIgh-resolution molecular TRANsmission) empirical database that corresponded to most extended available sets of observations. The overall qualitative agreement in a large wavenumber range for rotationally resolved cold and hot ozone bands up to about 6000 cm-1 is achieved here for the first time. These calculations reveal that several weak bands are yet missing from available spectroscopic databases.

Ab initio variational predictions for understanding highly congested spectra: rovibrational assignment of 108 new methane sub-bands in the icosad range (6280-7800 cm(-1)).

A detailed study of methane spectra in the highly congested icosad range of 6280-7800 cm(-1) has been performed using global variational calculations derived from accurate ab initio potential energy and dipole moment surfaces. About 13,000 (12)CH4 lines of the WKLMC line lists recorded at 80 and 296 K using very sensitive laser techniques (DAS, CRDS) have been rovibrationally assigned from first principles predictions. Overall, a total of 7436 upper energy levels were determined. Among the 20 bands and the 134 sub-levels contained in the icosad system, 20 and 108 have been identified for the first time, respectively. The assigned transitions represent 98% of the sum of the experimental intensity at 80 K. This work demonstrates for the first time how accurate first principles global calculations allow assigning complicated spectra of a molecule with more than 4 atoms.

First predictions of rotationally resolved infrared spectra of dideuteromethane ((12)CH2D2) from potential energy and dipole moment surfaces.

We report the variationally computed infrared spectrum of (12)CH2D2 using our recent potential energy and dipole moment methane surfaces, which have been initially derived in the irreducible tensor representation adapted to the tetrahedral symmetry of the major isotopologue (12)CH4. The nuclear motion calculations are accomplished by combining the normal-mode Eckart-Watson Hamiltonian with isotopic and symmetry transformations. Our direct vibrational calculations are compared to the 93 observed band centers up to 6300 cm(-1). Except for two outliers the root-mean-square deviation is 0.22 cm(-1) and the maximum error is 0.7 cm(-1) without empirical adjustment of parameters. The work aims at filling the gap concerning missing line strength information for this molecule. Theoretical spectra predictions are given up to J = 25 and, for the very first time, ab initio intensity predictions for rovibrational line transitions are in good qualitative agreement with available experimental spectra.

A new accurate ground-state potential energy surface of ethylene and predictions for rotational and vibrational energy levels.

In this paper we report a new ground state potential energy surface for ethylene (ethene) C2H4 obtained from extended ab initio calculations. The coupled-cluster approach with the perturbative inclusion of the connected triple excitations CCSD(T) and correlation consistent polarized valence basis set cc-pVQZ was employed for computations of electronic ground state energies. The fit of the surface included 82,542 nuclear configurations using sixth order expansion in curvilinear symmetry-adapted coordinates involving 2236 parameters. A good convergence for variationally computed vibrational levels of the C2H4 molecule was obtained with a RMS(Obs.-Calc.) deviation of 2.7 cm(-1) for fundamental bands centers and 5.9 cm(-1) for vibrational bands up to 7800 cm(-1). Large scale vibrational and rotational calculations for (12)C2H4, (13)C2H4, and (12)C2D4 isotopologues were performed using this new surface. Energy levels for J = 20 up to 6000 cm(-1) are in a good agreement with observations. This represents a considerable improvement with respect to available global predictions of vibrational levels of (13)C2H4 and (12)C2D4 and rovibrational levels of (12)C2H4.

Accurate first-principles calculations for 12CH3D infrared spectra from isotopic and symmetry transformations.

Accurate variational high-resolution spectra calculations in the range 0-8000 cm(-1) are reported for the first time for the monodeutered methane ((12)CH3D). Global calculations were performed by using recent ab initio surfaces for line positions and line intensities derived from the main isotopologue (12)CH4. Calculation of excited vibrational levels and high-J rovibrational states is described by using the normal mode Eckart-Watson Hamiltonian combined with irreducible tensor formalism and appropriate numerical procedures for solving the quantum nuclear motion problem. The isotopic H→D substitution is studied in details by means of symmetry and nonlinear normal mode coordinate transformations. Theoretical spectra predictions are given up to J = 25 and compared with the HITRAN 2012 database representing a compilation of line lists derived from analyses of experimental spectra. The results are in very good agreement with available empirical data suggesting that a large number of yet unassigned lines in observed spectra could be identified and modeled using the present approach.

New analytical model for the ozone electronic ground state potential surface and accurate ab initio vibrational predictions at high energy range.

An accurate description of the complicated shape of the potential energy surface (PES) and that of the highly excited vibration states is of crucial importance for various unsolved issues in the spectroscopy and dynamics of ozone and remains a challenge for the theory. In this work a new analytical representation is proposed for the PES of the ground electronic state of the ozone molecule in the range covering the main potential well and the transition state towards the dissociation. This model accounts for particular features specific to the ozone PES for large variations of nuclear displacements along the minimum energy path. The impact of the shape of the PES near the transition state (existence of the "reef structure") on vibration energy levels was studied for the first time. The major purpose of this work was to provide accurate theoretical predictions for ozone vibrational band centres at the energy range near the dissociation threshold, which would be helpful for understanding the very complicated high-resolution spectra and its analyses currently in progress. Extended ab initio electronic structure calculations were carried out enabling the determination of the parameters of a minimum energy path PES model resulting in a new set of theoretical vibrational levels of ozone. A comparison with recent high-resolution spectroscopic data on the vibrational levels gives the root-mean-square deviations below 1 cm(-1) for ozone band centres up to 90% of the dissociation energy. New ab initio vibrational predictions represent a significant improvement with respect to all previously available calculations.

First principles intensity calculations of the methane rovibrational spectra in the infrared up to 9300 cm(-1).

We report global calculations of rovibrational spectra and dipole transition intensities of methane using our recent ab initio dipole moment and potential surfaces [Nikitin et al., Chem. Phys. Lett., 2011, 501, 179; 2013, 565, 5]. For the full symmetry account, a recently published variational tensor formalism in normal modes [Rey et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2012, 136, 244106] is applied, the convergence of high-J calculations being improved by the use of vibrational eigenfunctions to make a compressed basis set for solving the rovibrational problem. Comparisons of theoretical predictions up to J = 25 for various complex polyads of methane involving strongly coupled vibration-rotation bands support the validity of this new approach. For the first time, positions and line intensities at 80 K and 296 K are shown to be in excellent agreement with raw experimental data, even for high energy ranges. The theoretical predictions also correctly describe the isotopic effects in line positions and intensities due to the CH4 → CD4 substitution which is considered as the test for the method. This work is a first step toward the theoretical interpretation of numerous methane bands which remain still unassigned and detailed line-by-line absorption/emission spectra analyses for atmospheric and planetological applications.

Complete nuclear motion Hamiltonian in the irreducible normal mode tensor operator formalism for the methane molecule.

A rovibrational model based on the normal-mode complete nuclear Hamiltonian is applied to methane using our recent potential energy surface [A. V. Nikitin, M. Rey, and Vl. G. Tyuterev, Chem. Phys. Lett. 501, 179 (2011)]. The kinetic energy operator and the potential energy function are expanded in power series to which a new truncation-reduction technique is applied. The vibration-rotation Hamiltonian is transformed systematically to a full symmetrized form using irreducible tensor operators. Each term of the Hamiltonian expansion can be thus cast in the tensor form whatever the order of the development. This allows to take full advantage of the symmetry properties for doubly and triply degenerate vibrations and vibration-rotation states. We apply this model to variational computations of energy levels for (12)CH(4), (13)CH(4), and (12)CD(4).

Accurate ab initio determination of the adiabatic potential energy function and the Born-Oppenheimer breakdown corrections for the electronic ground state of LiH isotopologues.

High level ab initio potential energy functions have been constructed for LiH in order to predict vibrational levels up to dissociation. After careful tests of the parameters of the calculation, the final adiabatic potential energy function has been composed from: (a) an ab initio nonrelativistic potential obtained at the multireference configuration interaction with singles and doubles level including a size-extensivity correction and quintuple-sextuple ζ extrapolations of the basis, (b) a mass-velocity-Darwin relativistic correction, and (c) a diagonal Born-Oppenheimer (BO) correction. Finally, nonadiabatic effects have also been considered by including a nonadiabatic correction to the kinetic energy operator of the nuclei. This correction is calculated from nonadiabatic matrix elements between the ground and excited electronic states. The calculated vibrational levels have been compared with those obtained from the experimental data [J. A. Coxon and C. S. Dickinson, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 9378 (2004)]. It was found that the calculated BO potential results in vibrational levels which have root mean square (rms) deviations of about 6-7 cm(-1) for LiH and ∼3 cm(-1) for LiD. With all the above mentioned corrections accounted for, the rms deviation falls down to ∼1 cm(-1). These results represent a drastic improvement over previous theoretical predictions of vibrational levels for all isotopologues of LiH.