Explicitly correlated Gaussian functions with shifted-center and projection techniques in pre-Born-Oppenheimer calculations

Numerical projection methods are elaborated for the calculation of eigenstates of the non-relativistic many-particle Coulomb Hamiltonian with selected rotational and parity quantum numbers employing shifted explicitly correlated Gaussian functions, which are, in general, not eigenfunctions of the total angular momentum and parity operators. The increased computational cost of numerically projecting the basis functions onto the irreducible representations of the three dimensional rotation-inversion group is the price to pay for the increased flexibility of the basis functions. This increased flexibility allowed us to achieve a substantial improvement for the variational upper bound to the Pauli-allowed ground-state energy of the H$_3^+=\{$p$^+,$p$^+,$p$^+,$e$^-,$e$^-\}$ molecular ion treated as an explicit five-particle system. We compare our pre-Born-Oppenheimer result for this molecular ion with rovibrational results including non-adiabatic corrections.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures, 4 table

Fast evaluation of solid harmonic Gaussian integrals for local resolution-of-the-identity methods and range-separated hybrid functionals

An integral scheme for the efficient evaluation of two-center integrals over contracted solid harmonic Gaussian functions is presented. Integral expressions are derived for local operators that depend on the position vector of one of the two Gaussian centers. These expressions are then used to derive the formula for three-index overlap integrals where two of the three Gaussians are located at the same center. The efficient evaluation of the latter is essential for local resolution-of-the-identity techniques that employ an overlap metric. We compare the performance of our integral scheme to the widely used Cartesian Gaussian-based method of Obara and Saika (OS). Non-local interaction potentials such as standard Coulomb, modified Coulomb and Gaussian-type operators, that occur in range-separated hybrid functionals, are also included in the performance tests. The speed-up with respect to the OS scheme is up to three orders of magnitude for both, integrals and their derivatives. In particular, our method is increasingly efficient for large angular momenta and highly contracted basis sets.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures; accepted manuscript. v2: supplementary material include

Generalized elimination of the global translation from explicitly correlated Gaussian functions

This paper presents the multi-channel generalization of the center-of-mass kinetic energy elimination approach [Mol. Phys., 111 2086 (2013)] when the Schr\"odinger equation is solved variationally with explicitly correlated Gaussian functions. The approach has immediate relevance in many-particle systems which are handled without the Born--Oppenheimer approximation and can be employed also for Dirac-type Hamiltonians. The practical realization and numerical properties of solving the Schr\"odinger equation in laboratory-frame Cartesian coordinates are demonstrated for the ground rovibronic state of the H$_2^+=\lbrace\text{p}^+,\text{p}^+,\text{e}^+\rbrace$ ion and the H$_2=\lbrace\text{p}^+,\text{p}^+,\text{e}^+,\text{e}^+\rbrace$ molecule.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure, 2 table

The genesis of the quantum theory of the chemical bond

An historical overview is given of the relevant steps that allowed the genesis of the quantum theory of the chemical bond, starting from the appearance of the new quantum mechanics and following later developments till approximately 1931. General ideas and some important details are discussed concerning molecular spectroscopy, as well as quantum computations for simple molecular systems performed within perturbative and variational approaches, for which the Born-Oppenheimer method provided a quantitative theory accounting for rotational, vibrational and electronic states. The novel concepts introduced by the Heitler-London theory, complemented by those underlying the method of the molecular orbitals, are critically analyzed along with some of their relevant applications. Further improvements in the understanding of the nature of the chemical bond are also considered, including the ideas of one-electron and three-electron bonds introduced by Pauling, as well as the generalizations of the Heitler-London theory firstly performed by Majorana, which allowed the presence of ionic structures into homopolar compounds and provided the theoretical proof of the stability of the helium molecular ion. The study of intermolecular interactions, as developed by London, is finally examined.Comment: amsart, 34 pages, 2 figure