Stability and production of positron-diatomic molecule complexes

The energies at geometries close to the equilibrium for the e$^+$BeO and e$^+$LiF ground states were computed by means of diffusion Monte Carlo simulations. These results allow us to predict the equilibrium geometries and the vibrational frequencies for these exotic systems,and to discuss their stability with respect to the various dissociation channels. Since the adiabatic positron affinities were found to be smaller than the dissociation energies for both complexes, we propose these two molecules as possible candidates in the challenge to produce and detect stable positron-molecule systems.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

o-Positronium scattering off H and He

Exploiting an approach similar to the R-matrix theory, the diffusion Monte Carlo method is employed to compute phase shifts and threshold cross sections for the elastic scattering of o-positronium off light atoms. Results are obtained for Ps-H and Ps-He as representative cases of open and closed shell targets. The method allows for an exact treatment of both correlation and exchange interactions, and represents the most promising approach to deal with these effects in more complicated targets. In particular the Ps-He threshold cross section, computed in a many body framework for the first time, represents a standard by which past and future numerical and experimental estimates can be judged.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Predicting atomic dopant solvation in helium clusters: the MgHen_n case

We present a quantum Monte Carlo study of the solvation and spectroscopic properties of the Mg doped helium clusters MgHe$_n$ with $n=2-50$. Three high level (MP4, CCSD(T) and CCSDT) MgHe interaction potentials have been used to study the sensitivity of the dopant location on the shape of the pair interaction. Despite the similar MgHe well depth, the pair distribution functions obtained in the diffusion Monte Carlo simulations markedly differ for the three pair potentials, therefore indicating different solubility properties for Mg in He$_n$. Moreover, we found interesting size effects for the behavior of the Mg impurity. As a sensitive probe of the solvation properties, the Mg excitation spectra have been simulated for various cluster sizes and compared with the available experimental results. The interaction between the excited $^1$P Mg atom and the He moiety has been approximated using the Diatomics-in-Molecules method and the two excited $^1\Pi$ and $^1\Sigma$ MgHe potentials. The shape of the simulated MgHe$_{50}$ spectra show a substantial dependency on the location of the Mg impurity, and hence on the MgHe pair interaction employed. To unravel the dependency of the solvation behavior on the shape of the computed potentials, exact Density Functional Theory has been adapted to the case of doped He$_n$ and various energy distributions have been computed. The results indicate the shape of the repulsive part of the MgHe potential as an important cause of the different behaviours

Infinite swapping in curved spaces

2openE. Curotto;Massimo MellaE., Curotto; Mella, Massim

Interpreting "acidity" as a global property controlling comonomer reactivity in olefin polymerization

A possible rationale for the different catalytic behaviors of systems based on rac-(ethylenebis(1-indenyl))zirconium dichloride (rac-EBIZrCl2), rac-(ethylenebis(1-indenyl))hafnium dichloride (rac-EBIHfCl2), and rac-(isopropylidenebis(1-indenyl))zirconium dichloride (rac-iPrBIZrCl2) toward ethene\u2013styrene copolymerization has been sought by studying related active systems. For this purpose, the metallocene ion pairs (IPs) rac-EBIZrMe\u2014MeB(C6F5)3, rac-EBIHfMe\u2014MeB(C6F5)3, and rac-iPrBIZrMe\u2014MeB(C6F5)3 have been synthesized and their structures in solution explored with ROESY and pulsed gradient NMR spectroscopy. The energetics of dynamical processes relevant for catalysis that can be used as indicators of the cation acidity have been studied with variable-temperature NMR experiments and density functional theory (DFT). NMR experiments successfully provided IP structural details in solution and also indicated the presence of an intricate dynamic behavior for all the IPs. DFT results, instead, indicated quantitatively how changing the metal and/or the ancillary ligand bridge influences the energetics of the active species and modifies the reaction energy profile. The theoretical results also drew attention to the fact that finding a rationale for the ligand influence on the catalytic behavior of rac-EBIZrCl2/MAO and rac-iPrBIZrCl2/MAO in ethene\u2013styrene copolymerization requires not only considering the steric effects but also determining how subtle changes in the ligand sphere affect the capability of the metal center to accept electrons from the counteranion or the olefins

Ground state and excitation dynamics in Ag doped helium clusters

We present a quantum Monte Carlo study of the structure and energetics of silver doped helium clusters AgHe$_n$ for $n$ up to 100. Our simulations show the first solvation shell of the Ag atom to be composed by roughly 20 He atoms, and to possess a structured angular distribution. Moreover, the electronic $^2$P$_{1/2}\leftarrow ^2$S$_{1/2}$ and $^2$P$_{3/2}\leftarrow ^2$S$_{1/2}$ electronic transitions of the embedded silver impurity have been studied as a function of the number ofhelium atoms. The computed spectra show a redshift for $n\leq 15$ and an increasing blueshift for larger clusters, a feature attributed to the effect of the second solvation shell of He atoms. For the largest cluster, the computed excitation spectrum is found in excellent agreement with the ones recorded in superfluid He clusters and bulk. No signature of the direct formation of proposed AgHe$_2$ exciplex is present in the computed spectra of AgHe$_{100}$.Comment: 4 Pages, 3 Figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Positron and positronium chemistry by quantum Monte Carlo. VI. The ground state of LiPs, NaPs, e(+)Be, and e(+)Mg

The ground states of the positronic complexes LiPs, NaPs, e(+)Be, e(+)Mg, and of the parent ordinary-matter systems have been simulated by means of the all-electron fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) method. Positron affinities and positronium binding energies are computed by direct difference between the DMC energy results. LiPs was recomputed in order to test the possibility of approximating the electron-positron Coulomb potential with a model one that does not diverge for r=0, finding accurate agreement with previous DMC results. As to e(+)Be, the effect due to the near degeneracy of the 1s(2)2s(2) and 1s(2)2p(2) configurations in Be is found to be relevant also for the positron affinity, and is discussed on the basis of the change in the ionization potential and the dipole polarizability. The DMC estimate of the positron affinity of Mg, a quantity still under debate, is 0.0168(14) hartree, in close agreement with the value 0.015 612 hartree computed by Mitroy and Ryzhihk [J. Phys. B. 34, 2001 (2001)] using explicitly correlated Gaussians. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics

Electronic Quantum Monte Carlo Calculations of Atomic Forces, Vibrations, and Anharmonicities

Atomic forces are calculated for first-row monohydrides and carbon monoxide within electronic quantum Monte Carlo (QMC). Accurate and efficient forces are achieved by using an improved method for moving variational parameters in variational QMC. Newton's method with singular value decomposition (SVD) is combined with steepest descent (SD) updates along directions rejected by the SVD, after initial SD steps. Dissociation energies in variational and diffusion QMC agree well with experiment. The atomic forces agree quantitatively with potential energy surfaces, demonstrating the accuracy of this force procedure. The harmonic vibrational frequencies and anharmonicity constants, derived from the QMC energies and atomic forces, also agree well with experimental values.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; updated conten

Computing accurate forces in quantum Monte Carlo using Pulay's corrections and energy minimization

3In order to overcome the difficulty of optimizing molecular geometry using quantum Monte Carlo methods, we introduce various approximations to the exact force expectation value. We follow Pulay's suggestion [Mol. Phys. 17, 153 (1969)] to correct the Hellmann-Feynman estimator by introducing the contributions due to the changes in the wave function with respect to the nuclear positions. When used in conjunction with energy-optimized explicitly correlated trial wave functions for H-2 and LiH, these approximations appear to yield accurate forces using both the variational and diffusion Monte Carlo methods. Also, the accuracy of the second-order estimate of the Hellmann-Feynman force estimator was investigated employing our energy-optimized trial wave functions, and an erratic behavior was uncovered for some of the studied bond lengths. The additional computational cost required to compute the corrections to the Hellmann-Feynman estimator was found to be only a small fraction of the cost for a simple mean energy calculation. The same approach could be exploited also in computing the derivative of other energy-dependent quantum-mechanical observables. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.openM. Casalegno;M. Mella;A. M. RappeM., Casalegno; Mella, Massimo; A. M., Rapp