A route to high-accuracy ab initio description of electronic excited states in high-spin lanthanide-containing species: A case study of GdO.

Accurate description of electronic excited states of high-spin molecular species is a yet unsolved problem in modern electronic structure theory. A composite computational scheme developed in the present work contributes to solving this task for a challenging case of lanthanide-containing molecules. In the scheme, the highest-spin states whose wavefunctions are dominated by a single Slater determinant are described at the single-reference (SR) CCSD(T) level, whereas the lower-spin states, being inherently multiconfigurational in their nature, are treated with multireference (MR) methods, MRCI and/or CASPT2.

Strong static and dynamic Jahn-Teller and pseudo-Jahn-Teller effects in niobium tetrafluoride.

We present a first-principles study of the static and dynamic aspects of the strong Jahn-Teller (JT) and pseudo-JT (PJT) effects in niobium tetrafluoride, NbF, in the manifold of its electronic ground state, E, and its first excited state, T. The complex topography of the full-dimensional multi-sheeted adiabatic JT/PJT surfaces is analyzed computationally at the complete-active-space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) and multireference second-order perturbation levels of electronic structure theory, providing a detailed characterization of minima, saddle points, and minimum-energy conical intersection points. The calculations reveal that the tetrahedral (T) configuration of NbF undergoes strong JT distortions along the bending mode of e symmetry, yielding tetragonal molecular structures of D symmetry with T → D stabilization energies of about 2000 cm in the X̃E state and about 6400 cm in the ÃT state.

First-principles study of large-amplitude dynamic Jahn-Teller effects in vanadium tetrafluoride.

Transition metal tetrahalides are a class of highly symmetric molecules for which very few spectroscopic data exist. Exploratory ab initio calculations of electronic potential energy functions indicate that the equilibrium molecular geometries of the vanadium, niobium, and tantalum tetrafluorides (i.e.

Spectroscopy of YO from first principles.

We report an ab initio study on the spectroscopy of the open-shell diatomic molecule yttrium oxide, YO. The study considers the six lowest doublet states, X2Σ+, A'2Δ, A2Π, B2Σ+, C2Π, D2Σ+, and a few higher-lying quartet states using high levels of electronic structure theory and accurate nuclear motion calculations. The coupled cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples, CCSD(T), and multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) methods are employed in conjunction with a relativistic pseudopotential on the yttrium atom and a series of correlation-consistent basis sets ranging in size from triple-ζ to quintuple-ζ quality.

Toward Chemical Accuracy in ab Initio Thermochemistry and Spectroscopy of Lanthanide Compounds: Assessing Core-Valence Correlation, Second-Order Spin-Orbit Coupling, and Higher Order Effects in Lanthanide Diatomics.

The higher order (HO) correlation beyond the coupled-cluster single double (triple) CCSD(T) level of theory, second-order spin-orbit coupling (SOC), and core-valence (CV) correlation effects on bond length, r, vibrational frequency, ω, and dissociation energy, D, are studied for a set of 17 lanthanide containing diatomics, including lanthanum, europium, ytterbium, and lutetium oxides and halides. Convergence in the magnitudes of the SOC, CV, and HO corrections with respect to basis set size is examined using a sequence of double, triple, and quadruple-ζ basis sets, with the complete basis set (CBS) limit estimates provided in most cases. The CV effects on D, r, and ω are calculated to amount up to 1.

Composite vibrational spectroscopy of the group 12 difluorides: ZnF2, CdF2, and HgF2.

The vibrational spectra of group 12 difluorides, MF2 (M = Zn, Cd, Hg), were investigated via coupled cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples, CCSD(T), including core correlation, with a series of correlation consistent basis sets ranging in size from triple-zeta through quintuple-zeta quality, which were then extrapolated to the complete basis set (CBS) limit using a variety of extrapolation procedures. The explicitly correlated coupled cluster method, CCSD(T)-F12b, was employed as well. Although exhibiting quite different convergence behavior, the F12b method yielded the CBS limit estimates closely matching more computationally expensive conventional CBS extrapolations.

Gravity Probe B: final results of a space experiment to test general relativity.

Gravity Probe B, launched 20 April 2004, is a space experiment testing two fundamental predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR), the geodetic and frame-dragging effects, by means of cryogenic gyroscopes in Earth orbit. Data collection started 28 August 2004 and ended 14 August 2005. Analysis of the data from all four gyroscopes results in a geodetic drift rate of -6601.

Comparative ab initio studies on the molecular structure and spectroscopic properties of FeF2: Single reference versus multireference methods.

The electronic excitation energies, molecular geometry, quadratic force fields, and vibrational frequencies in the ground (5)Delta(g) and low-lying excited (5)Sigma(g) (+) and (5)Pi(g) electronic states of iron difluoride are studied at sophisticated levels of theory. Two families of basis sets, nonrelativistic and Douglas-Kroll-Hess relativistic, are used that range in quality from triple-zeta to quintuple-zeta. These are augmented by additional diffuse functions (on fluorine atoms) and tight functions (on all atoms) for the description of core-valence correlation and utilized to determine complete basis set molecular properties.

Approaching the basis set limit for transition metal compounds with highly polar bonds: a benchmark coupled-cluster study of the ScF3 and FeF3 molecular structures and spectra.

The molecular equilibrium geometries, quadratic and cubic force constants, vibrational frequencies, and infrared intensities of scandium and iron trifluorides are determined ab initio with a sequence of atomic natural orbital basis sets using the CCSD(T) treatment of electron correlation. The largest basis set of spdf ghi quality contains 462 contracted Gaussian functions. Relativistic corrections are applied to compute the equilibrium geometries and vibrational frequencies.