Charge overlap effects and the validity of the multipole results for first-order molecule-molecule interaction energies. Formalism and an application to H2-H2

Abstract

For the interaction of two molecules, the first-order coulomb energy, E e (1), is expressed as a sum of non-expanded partial wave components which exhibit the orientation dependence of the energy explicitly. By comparing these non-expanded results with the analogous multipolar results for the first-order energy, the effects of charge overlap on the multipole representation of the energy can be investigated as a function of intermolecular separation and orientation, and the validity of the multipole results for E e (1) assessed. The interaction of two ground-state hydrogen molecules is considered as a specific example of this approach for studying the validity of the multipole expansion as a representation of molecular first-order Coulomb energies. All calculations are presented as a function of four molecular wave functions of varying degrees of sophistication in order to assess the sensitivity of (1) the representation of charge overlap effects and (2) the calculated quadrupole and hexadecapole moments o...