Ab initio MRCI+Q calculations on the low-lying excited states of the MgBr radical including spin-orbit coupling.

Accurate theoretical calculations on the MgBr radical have been carried out by using the high-level relativistic multireference configuration interaction method with Davidson correction (MRCI+Q) using correlation-consistent Quintuple-ζ quality basis set. The potential energy curves (PECs) of the 14 Λ-S states of MgBr have been computed. In order to improve the PECs, the core-valence correlation, scalar relativistic effect, and spin-orbit coupling effect are taken into account in the computations. The spectroscopic constants of the bound states have been determined from the computed PECs. The results of the ground state X(2)Σ(+) and the first excited state A(2)Π are in good agreement with those from the available experiments, while spectroscopic constants of the other electronic states are firstly reported. The low-lying ion-pair state B(2)Σ(+) correlated to ion-pair dissociation limit Mg(+) ((2)Sg)+Br(-) ((1)Sg) is characterized. The permanent dipole moments (PDMs) of Λ-S states and the R-dependent spin-orbit (SO) matrix elements are computed. The results indicate that the abrupt changes of PDMs and the SO matrix elements are attributed to the changes of the electronic configurations near the avoided crossing point. After taking the SOC effect into account, the 14 Λ-S states split into 30Ω states, and the SOC splitting for the A(2)Π is calculated to be 102.58cm(-1). The SOC effect, leading to the double-well potential of the Ω=(3)1/2 state, is found to be substantial for MgBr. In order to further illustrate the SOC effect and the avoided crossing phenomenon of the PECs, the Λ-S compositions in the Ω state wavefunctions are analyzed in detail. Finally, the transition dipole moments (TDMs) of several transitions from upper Ω states to the ground X(2)Σ(+)1/2 state and the corresponding radiative lifetimes have been studied. It is shown that the (1)3/2-X(2)Σ(+)1/2 and (2)3/2-X(2)Σ(+)1/2 are particularly important to the observed transitions A(2)Π-X(2)Σ(+) and C(2)Π-X(2)Σ(+). The present study should shed more light on the electronic structures and transition properties of electronic states of the MgBr radical.