The anion photoelectron spectrum and diabatization of tetrazolyl.

The potential energy surface of tetrazolyl [cyclic (N4CH)] has a conical intersection seam between the two lowest-energy electronic states near the ground state minimum geometry. This work treats that molecule. The potential energy surfaces used in this study are based on a least-squares fitting procedure that includes ab initio energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings described using polynomials up to fourth-order and ab initio data obtained from multireference configuration interaction wave functions. A five-electronic-state description was generated with a root mean square absolute energy error of 9.6 cm-1, compared to 326.8 cm-1 when only second-order terms were used. The time-independent multimode vibronic coupling in the KDC approximation was used to simulate and analyze the anion ultraviolet photoelectron spectrum of tetrazolide.

Internal conversion and intersystem crossing dynamics based on coupled potential energy surfaces with full geometry-dependent spin-orbit and derivative couplings. Nonadiabatic photodissociation dynamics of NH3(A) leading to the NH(X3Σ-, a1Δ) + H2 channel.

We simulate the photodissociation of NH3 originating from its first excited singlet state S1 into the NH2 + H (radical) and NH + H2 (molecular) channels. The states considered are the ground singlet state S0, the first excited singlet state S1 and the lowest-lying triplet state T1, which permit for the first time a uniform treatment of the internal conversion and intersystem crossing. The simulations are based on a diabatic potential energy matrix (DPEM) of S0, S1 coupled by a conical intersection seam, as well as a potential energy surface (PES) for T1 coupled by spin-orbit coupling (SOC) to the two singlet states. The DPEM and PES are fitted to ab initio electronic structure data (ESD) including energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings. The DPEM also defines an adiabatic to diabatic state (AtD) transformation, which is used to transform the singular adiabatic SOC into a smooth function of the nuclear coordinates in the diabatic representation, allowing the diabatic SOC to be fit to an analytical functional form. ESD and SOC data obtained from these surfaces can serve as input for either quantum or semi-classical characterization of the nonadiabatic dynamics. Using the SHARC suite of programs, nonadiabatic simulations based on over 40 000 semi-classical trajectories assess the convergence of our results. The production of NH + H2 is not direct, but is only achieved through a quasi-statistical dissociation mechanism after internal conversion to the ground electronic state. This leads to a much lower yield comparing with the main NH2 + H channel. The NH(X3Σ_) radical produced through the intersystem crossing from S0 to T1 is rare (∼0.2%) compared to NH(a1Δ) due to the process being spin forbidden.

Unified Description of the Jahn-Teller Effect in Molecules with Only Cs Symmetry: Cyclohexoxy in Its Full 48-Dimensional Internal Coordinates.

The two lowest potential energy surfaces of cyclohexoxy which are coupled by conical intersections and the spin-orbit interaction are determined in the full 48-dimensional internal coordinate space using a feedforward neural network to fit a diabatic potential energy matrix. The electronic structure data are obtained at the multireference configuration interaction with single- and double-excitation level. Underlying parallels between these coupled surfaces and those of the alkoxy radicals methoxy and isopropoxy are established. Earlier work by Dillon and Yarkony is extended. While the parallels would have been challenging to appreciate using the concept of the Jahn-Teller active modes, they are readily seen in terms of two internal modes centered at the conical intersection: g the energy difference gradient vector and h the interstate coupling gradient vector. In other words, g and h vectors provide a unified description of the Jahn-Teller effect in molecules exhibiting C3v and quasi-C3v symmetries. A spectral simulation in the full 48-vibrational-internal coordinate space is reported. This spectrum is obtained using recently developed algorithms designed to increase the size of the systems that can be treated with a time-independent vibronic coupling approach.

Nonadiabatic Reactive Quenching of OH(A2Σ+) by H2: Origin of High Vibrational Excitation in the H2O Product.

The nonadiabatic dynamics of the reactive quenching channel of the OH(A2Σ+) + H2/D2 collisions is investigated with a semiclassical surface hopping method, using a recently developed four-state diabatic potential energy matrix (DPEM). In agreement with experimental observations, the H2O/HOD products are found to have significant vibrational excitation. Using a Gaussian binning method, the H2O vibrational state distribution is determined. The preferential energy disposal into the product vibrational modes is rationalized by an extended Sudden Vector Projection model, in which the h and g vectors associated with the conical intersection are found to have large projections with the product normal modes. However, our calculations did not find significant insertion trajectories, suggesting the need for further improvement of the DPEM.

Permutation invariant polynomial neural network based diabatic ansatz for the (E + A) × (e + a) Jahn-Teller and Pseudo-Jahn-Teller systems.

In this work, the permutation invariant polynomial neural network (PIP-NN) approach is employed to construct a quasi-diabatic Hamiltonian for system with non-Abelian symmetries. It provides a flexible and compact NN-based diabatic ansatz from the related approach of Williams, Eisfeld, and co-workers. The example of H3 + is studied, which is an (E + A) × (e + a) Jahn-Teller and Pseudo-Jahn-Teller system. The PIP-NN diabatic ansatz is based on the symmetric polynomial expansion of Viel and Eisfeld, the coefficients of which are expressed with neural network functions that take permutation-invariant polynomials as input. This PIP-NN-based diabatic ansatz not only preserves the correct symmetry but also provides functional flexibility to accurately reproduce ab initio electronic structure data, thus resulting in excellent fits. The adiabatic energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings are well reproduced. A good description of the local topology of the conical intersection seam is also achieved. Therefore, this diabatic ansatz completes the PIP-NN based representation of DPEM with correct symmetries and will enable us to diabatize even more complicated systems with complex symmetries.

High-fidelity first principles nonadiabaticity: diabatization, analytic representation of global diabatic potential energy matrices, and quantum dynamics.

Nonadiabatic dynamics, which goes beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, has increasingly been shown to play an important role in chemical processes, particularly those involving electronically excited states. Understanding multistate dynamics requires rigorous quantum characterization of both electronic and nuclear motion. However, such first principles treatments of multi-dimensional systems have so far been rather limited due to the lack of accurate coupled potential energy surfaces and difficulties associated with quantum dynamics. In this Perspective, we review recent advances in developing high-fidelity analytical diabatic potential energy matrices for quantum dynamical investigations of polyatomic uni- and bi-molecular nonadiabatic processes, by machine learning of high-level ab initio data. Special attention is paid to methods of diabatization, high fidelity construction of multi-state coupled potential energy surfaces and property surfaces, as well as quantum mechanical characterization of nonadiabatic nuclear dynamics. To illustrate the tremendous progress made by these new developments, several examples are discussed, in which direct comparison with quantum state resolved measurements led to either confirmation of the observation or sometimes reinterpretation of the experimental data. The insights gained in these prototypical systems greatly advance our understanding of nonadiabatic dynamics in chemical systems.

Conical intersection seams in spin-orbit coupled systems with an even number of electrons: A numerical study based on neural network fit surfaces.

In this work, we consider the existence and topography of seams of conical intersections (CIs) for two key singlet-triplet systems, including a uniformly scaled spin-orbit interaction. The basic one triplet and one singlet state system denoted as (S0,T1) and the two singlets and one triplet system denoted as (S0,S1,T1) are treated. Essential to this analysis are realistic electronic structure data taken from a recently reported neural network fit for the 1,21A and 13A states of NH3, including Hsf (spin-free) and Hso (spin-orbit) surfaces derived from high quality ab initio wavefunctions. Three types of seams for the (S0,S1,T1) system are reported, which depend on the choice of the electronic Hamiltonian, He. The nonrelativistic CI seam [He = Hsf, (S0,S1)], the energy minimized nonrelativistic singlet-triplet intersection seam [He = Hsf, (S0,T1)], and the fully relativistic seam in the spin-diabatic representation (He = Htot = Hsf + Hso) are reported as functions of R(N-H). The derivative couplings are computed using He = Htot and Hsf from the fit data. The line integral of the derivative coupling is employed to juxtapose the geometric phase in the relativistic, He = Htot, and nonrelativistic, He = Hsf, cases. It is found for the (S0,T1) system that there is no CI in the spin-adiabatic representation, while for the (S0,S1,T1) system, CI can only be formed for two pairs of spin-adiabatic electronic states. The geometric phase effect thus needs to be handled with care when it comes to spin-nonconserving dynamics simulations.

Enabling complete multichannel nonadiabatic dynamics: A global representation of the two-channel coupled, 1,21A and 13A states of NH3 using neural networks.

Global coupled three-state two-channel potential energy and property/interaction (dipole and spin-orbit coupling) surfaces for the dissociation of NH3(Ã) into NH + H2 and NH2 + H are reported. The permutational invariant polynomial-neural network approach is used to simultaneously fit and diabatize the electronic Hamiltonian by fitting the energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings of the two coupled lowest-lying singlet states as well as fitting the energy and energy gradients of the lowest-lying triplet state. The key issue in fitting property matrix elements in the diabatic basis is that the diabatic surfaces must be smooth, that is, the diabatization must remove spikes in the original adiabatic property surfaces attributable to the switch of electronic wavefunctions at the conical intersection seam. Here, we employ the fit potential energy matrix to transform properties in the adiabatic representation to a quasi-diabatic representation and remove the discontinuity near the conical intersection seam. The property matrix elements can then be fit with smooth neural network functions. The coupled potential energy surfaces along with the dipole and spin-orbit coupling surfaces will enable more accurate and complete treatment of optical transitions, as well as nonadiabatic internal conversion and intersystem crossing.

Up to a Sign. The Insidious Effects of Energetically Inaccessible Conical Intersections on Unimolecular Reactions.

It is now well established that conical intersections play an essential role in nonadiabatic radiationless decay where their double-cone topography causes them to act as efficient funnels channeling wave packets from the upper to the lower adiabatic state. Until recently, little attention was paid to the effect of conical intersections on dynamics on the lower state, particularly when the total energy involved is significantly below that of the conical intersection seam. This energetic deficiency is routinely used as a sufficient condition to exclude consideration of excited states in ground state dynamics. In this account, we show that, this energy criterion notwithstanding, energy inaccessible conical intersections can and do exert significant influence on lower state dynamics. The origin of this influence is the geometric phase, a signature property of conical intersections, which is the fact that the real-valued electronic wave function changes sign when transported along a loop containing a conical intersection, making the wave function double-valued. This geometric phase is permitted by an often neglected property of the real-valued adiabatic electronic wave function; namely, it is determined only up to an overall sign. Noting that in order to change sign a normalized, continuous function must go through zero, for loops of ever decreasing radii, demonstrating the need for an electronic degeneracy (intersection) to accompany the geometric phase. Since the total wave function must be single-valued a compensating geometry dependent phase needs to be included in the total electronic-nuclear wave function. This Account focuses on how this consequence of the geometric phase can modify nuclear dynamics energetically restricted to the lower state, including tunneling dynamics, in directly measurable ways, including significantly altering tunneling lifetimes, thus confounding the relation between measured lifetimes and barrier heights and widths, and/or completely changing product rotational distributions. Some progress has been made in understanding the origin of this effect. It has emerged that for a system where the lower adiabatic potential energy surface exhibits a topography comprised of two saddle points separated by a high energy conical intersection, the effect of the geometric phase can be quite significant. In this case topologically distinct paths through the two adiabatic saddle points may lead to interference. This was pointed out by Mead and Truhlar almost 50 years ago and denoted the Molecular Aharonov-Bohm effect. Still, the difficulty in anticipating a significant geometric phase effect in tunneling dynamics due to energetically inaccessible conical intersections leads to the attribute insidious that appears in the title of this Account. Since any theory is only as relevant as the prevalence of the systems it describes, we include in this Account examples of real systems where these effects can be observed. The accuracy of the reviewed calculations is high since we use fully quantum mechanical dynamics and construct the geometric phase using an accurate diabatic state fit of high quality ab initio data, energies, energy gradients, and interstate couplings. It remains for future work to establish the prevalence of this phenomenon and its deleterious effects on the conventional wisdom discussed in this work.

On the nonadiabatic collisional quenching of OH(A) by H2: a four coupled quasi-diabatic state description.

A four-state diabatic potential energy matrix (DPEM), Hd, for the description of the nonadiabatic quenching of OH(A2Σ+) by collisions with H2 is reported. The DPEM is constructed as a fit to adiabatic energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings obtained exclusively from multireference configuration interaction wave functions. A four-adiabatic-electronic-state representation is used in order to describe all energetically accessible regions of the nuclear coordinate space. Partial permutation-inversion symmetry is incorporated into the representation. The fit is based on electronic structure data at 42 882 points, described by over 1.6 million least squares equations with a root mean square (mean unsigned) error of 178(83) cm-1. Comparison of ab initio and Hd determined minima, saddle points, and energy minimized points on C2v, Cs, C∞v, and C1 (noncoplanar) portions of two conical intersection seams are used to establish the accuracy of the Hd.

Construction of Quasi-diabatic Hamiltonians That Accurately Represent ab Initio Determined Adiabatic Electronic States Coupled by Conical Intersections for Systems on the Order of 15 Atoms. Application to Cyclopentoxide Photoelectron Detachment in the Full 39 Degrees of Freedom.

We present, for systems of moderate dimension, a fitting framework to construct quasi-diabatic Hamiltonians that accurately represent ab initio adiabatic electronic structure data including the effects of conical intersections. The framework introduced here minimizes the difference between the fit prediction and the ab initio data obtained in the adiabatic representation, which is singular at a conical intersection seam. We define a general and flexible merit function to allow arbitrary representations and propose a representation to measure the fit-ab initio difference at geometries near electronic degeneracies. A fit Hamiltonian may behave poorly in insufficiently sampled regions, in which case a machine learning theory analysis of the fit representation suggests a regularization to address the deficiency. Our fitting framework including the regularization is used to construct the full 39-dimensional coupled diabatic potential energy surfaces for cyclopentoxy relevant to cyclopentoxide photoelectron detachment.

Neural Network Based Quasi-diabatic Representation for S0 and S1 States of Formaldehyde.

A neural network based quasi-diabatic potential energy matrix Hd that describes the photodissociation of formaldehyde involving the two lowest singlet states S0 and S1 is constructed. It has strict complete nuclear permutation inversion symmetry encoded and can reproduce high level ab initio electronic structure data, including energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings, with excellent accuracy. It has been fully saturated in the configuration space to cover all possible reaction pathways with a trajectory-guided point sampling approach. This Hd will not only enable the accurate full-dimensional dynamic simulations of the photodissociation of formaldehyde involving S0 and S1 but also provide a crucial ingredient for incorporating spin-orbit couplings into a diabatic framework, thus ultimately enabling the study of both internal conversion and intersystem crossing in formaldehyde on the same footing.

The generality of the GUGA MRCI approach in COLUMBUS for treating complex quantum chemistry.

The core part of the program system COLUMBUS allows highly efficient calculations using variational multireference (MR) methods in the framework of configuration interaction with single and double excitations (MR-CISD) and averaged quadratic coupled-cluster calculations (MR-AQCC), based on uncontracted sets of configurations and the graphical unitary group approach (GUGA). The availability of analytic MR-CISD and MR-AQCC energy gradients and analytic nonadiabatic couplings for MR-CISD enables exciting applications including, e.g., investigations of π-conjugated biradicaloid compounds, calculations of multitudes of excited states, development of diabatization procedures, and furnishing the electronic structure information for on-the-fly surface nonadiabatic dynamics. With fully variational uncontracted spin-orbit MRCI, COLUMBUS provides a unique possibility of performing high-level calculations on compounds containing heavy atoms up to lanthanides and actinides. Crucial for carrying out all of these calculations effectively is the availability of an efficient parallel code for the CI step. Configuration spaces of several billion in size now can be treated quite routinely on standard parallel computer clusters. Emerging developments in COLUMBUS, including the all configuration mean energy multiconfiguration self-consistent field method and the graphically contracted function method, promise to allow practically unlimited configuration space dimensions. Spin density based on the GUGA approach, analytic spin-orbit energy gradients, possibilities for local electron correlation MR calculations, development of general interfaces for nonadiabatic dynamics, and MRCI linear vibronic coupling models conclude this overview.

Representation of coupled adiabatic potential energy surfaces using neural network based quasi-diabatic Hamiltonians: 1,2 2A' states of LiFH.

An analytic quasi-diabatic representation of ab initio electronic structure data is key to the accurate quantum mechanical description of non-adiabatic chemical processes. In this work, a general neural network (NN) fitting procedure is proposed to generate coupled quasi-diabatic Hamiltonians (Hd) that are capable of representing adiabatic energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings over a wide range of geometries. The quasi-diabatic representation for LiFH is used as a testing example. The fitting data including adiabatic energies, energy gradients and interstate couplings are obtained from a previously fitted analytical quasi-diabatic potential energy matrix, and are well reproduced by the NN fitting. Most importantly, the NN fitting also yields quantum dynamic results that reproduce those on the original LiFH diabatic Hamiltonian, demonstrating the ability of NN to generate highly accurate quasi-diabatic Hamiltonians.

On the Impact of Singularities in the Two-State Adiabatic to Diabatic State Transformation: A Global Treatment.

Diabatizations based on molecular properties can remove the singularity in the derivative coupling at a conical intersection in the diabatic representation. Yet, they can also create new singularities in the derivative couplings because of the defining equations of the adiabatic to diabatic state transformation. In the iconic two-state case, these singularities occur at points termed diabolical singular points and form a seam of dimension Nint-2, where Nint is the number of internal degrees of freedom. This seam is of the same dimension as the conical intersection seam, but is distinct. Here, the global topography of the diabolical singularity seam of 1,21A states of ammonia is reported using a Boys localization (BL) dipole-based diabatization and juxtaposed with a previously reported global representation of the coupled electronic state potential energy surfaces. The principal finding is that the seam of BL diabatization-induced singularities passes very close to the key saddle point on the 21A potential energy surface which connects the 21A equilibrium structure with the NH2(X̃,Ã) + H channel. The construction and detailed study of the reported diabolical singularity seam is made possible by a recently constructed analytic representation of the dipole and transition dipole moment surfaces.

A Quasi-Diabatic Representation of the 1,21A States of Methylamine.

We report a full 15-dimensional two-state quasi-diabatic potential energy matrix (PEM) for the 1,21A states of methylamine (CH3NH2) suitable for the description of its two distinct photodissociation channels, CH3NH2(11A) + hν → CH3NH2(21A) → CH3 + NH2 or CH3NH + H. The PEM is fit to ab initio electronic structure data (energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings) obtained from multireference configuration interaction single and double excitation wave functions at 7732 geometries, using a diabatic representation based on symmetry-adapted polynomials. The root-mean-square error is 78.34 cm-1 for the energies and 2.98% for the gradients. The computed T0(21A) = 42 461 cm-1 (41 669 cm-1), D0(CH3NH+H) = 33 639 cm-1 (34 250 cm-1), and D0(CH3+NH2) = 28 543 cm-1 (29 300 cm-1) are in good agreement with the experimental values given in the parentheses. The absorption spectrum of CH3NH2 is computed using this diabatic PEM and a normal mode based kinetic energy operator. Agreement with experimental data is quite satisfactory. Our accurate representation of the PEM over a wide range of nuclear configuration space offers the possibility for quality nonadiabatic dynamics simulations involving the CH3 + NH2 and CH3NH + H dissociation channels. Surface hopping trajectories are used to illustrate the types of nuclear motion supported by the PEM.

Nonadiabatic Dynamics in Photodissociation of Hydroxymethyl in the 32A(3p x) Rydberg State: A Nine-Dimensional Quantum Study.

The nonadiabatic predissociation dynamics of the hydroxymethyl radical (CH2OH) in its 32A(3p x) state is investigated using a nine-dimensional quantum mechanical model based on an ab initio three coupled diabatic state potential energy matrix. The calculated absorption spectrum, which is dominated by predissociative resonances, is in excellent agreement with experiment. The predissociation is facilitated by two conical intersection seams formed between the 32A(3p x) and 22A(3s) states near the Franck-Condon region. The h and g vectors of energy minimized points on these seams are analyzed using the normal modes of the 32A equilibrium structure. The low-lying predissociative resonances have been assigned and their lifetimes are less than 100 fs and moderately mode specific. The absorption spectrum is dominated by a CO vibrational progression, due apparently to the promotion of an electron from the ground state antibonding πCO* orbital to the carbon Rydberg orbital, which effectively increases the C-O bond order.

Neural network based quasi-diabatic Hamiltonians with symmetry adaptation and a correct description of conical intersections.

In a previous paper, we have demonstrated that artificial neural networks (NNs) can be used to generate quasidiabatic Hamiltonians (Hd) that are capable of representing adiabatic energies, energy gradients, and derivative couplings. In this work, two additional issues are addressed. First, symmetry-adapted functions such as permutation invariant polynomials are introduced to account for complete nuclear permutation inversion symmetry. Second, a partially diagonalized representation is introduced to facilitate a better description of near degeneracy points. The diabatization of 1, 21A states of NH3 is used as an example. The NN fitting results are compared to that of a previous fitting with symmetry adapted polynomials.

Signatures of a Conical Intersection in Adiabatic Dissociation on the Ground Electronic State.

Conical intersections are known to cause nonadiabatic transitions, but their effects on adiabatic dynamics are often ignored. Using the overtone-induced dissociation of the hydroxymethyl radical as an example, we demonstrate that ground-state O-H bond rupture is significantly affected by a conical intersection with an electronically excited state along the dissociation path, despite the much lower energy of the dissociating state than that of the conical intersection. In addition to lifetime differences, the geometric phase leads to a different H2CO rotational state distribution compared with that obtained using the standard single-state adiabatic model, which constitutes a signature of the conical intersection.

Determining whether diabolical singularities limit the accuracy of molecular property based diabatic representations: The 1,21A states of methylamine.

An efficient, easily implemented method for locating singularities attributable to the failure of the defining equations in a molecular property based diabatization, termed diabolical singular points, is reported. For two state diabatizations, the singular points form a seam of dimension N int - 2, where N int is the number of internal degrees of freedom. The dynamical outcomes of nuclear trajectories that reach the region of this seam are flawed. The algorithm easily identifies these otherwise hard to anticipate regions of fallaciously large derivative coupling. The fact that the algorithm is easily incorporated into a two state diabatization code based on molecular properties makes it a practical tool for determining whether the existence of diabolical singularities is relevant to the problem being considered. The algorithm is illustrated using a multireference single and double excitation configuration interaction description of the 1,21A states of CH3NH2.