Bohr model and dimensional scaling analysis of atoms and molecules

It is generally believed that the old quantum theory, as presented by Niels Bohr in 1913, fails when applied to many-electron systems, such as molecules, and nonhydrogenic atoms. It is the central theme of this dissertation to display with examples and applications the implementation of a simple and successful extension of BohrâÂÂs planetary model of the hydrogenic atom, which has recently been developed by an atomic and molecular theory group from Texas A&M University. This âÂÂextendedâ Bohr model, which can be derived from quantum mechanics using the well-known dimentional scaling technique is used to yield potential energy curves of H2 and several more complicated molecules, such as LiH, Li2, BeH, He2 and H3, with accuracies strikingly comparable to those obtained from the more lengthy and rigorous âÂÂab initioâ computations, and the added advantage that it provides a rather insightful and pictorial description of how electrons behave to form chemical bonds, a theme not central to âÂÂab initioâ quantum chemistry. Further investigation directed to CH, and the four-atom system H4 (with both linear and square configurations ), via the interpolated Bohr model, and the constrained Bohr model (with an effective potential), respectively, is reported. The extended model is also used to calculate correlation energies. The model is readily applicable to the study of molecular species in the presence of strong magnetic fields, as is the case in the vicinities of white dwarfs and neutron stars. We find that magnetic field increases the binding energy and decreases the bond length. Finally, an elaborative review of doubly coupled quantum dots for a derivation of the electron exchange energy, a straightforward application of Heitler-London method of quantum molecular chemistry, concludes the dissertation. The highlights of the research are (1) a bridging together of the pre- and post quantum mechanical descriptions of the chemical bond (Bohr-Sommerfeld vs Heisenberg- Schrèodinger), and (2) the reporting of the appearance of new bound states of H2 in the presence of very strong magnetic fields. The new states emerge above the critical value of 5 à107 G, and hence cannot be obtained perturbatively

The two electron molecular bond revisited: from Bohr orbits to two-center orbitals

In this review we first discuss extension of Bohr's 1913 molecular model and show that it corresponds to the large-D limit of a dimensional scaling (D-scaling) analysis, as developed by Herschbach and coworkers. In a separate but synergetic approach to the two-electron problem, we summarize recent advances in constructing analytical models for describing the two-electron bond. The emphasis here is not maximally attainable numerical accuracy, but beyond textbook accuracy as informed by physical insights. We demonstrate how the interplay of the cusp condition, the asymptotic condition, the electron-correlation, configuration interaction, and the exact one electron two-center orbitals, can produce energy results approaching chemical accuracy. Reviews of more traditional calculational approaches, such as Hartree-Fock, are also given. The inclusion of electron correlation via Hylleraas type functions is well known to be important, but difficult to implement for more than two electrons. The use of the D-scaled Bohr model offers the tantalizing possibility of obtaining electron correlation energy in a non-traditional way.Comment: 99 pages, 29 figures, review article, to appear in Advances in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physic