Electron-electron interactions in the chemical bond: “1/3” Effect in the bond length of hydrogen molecule

Abstract

The prominent “1/3” effect observed in the Hall effect plateaus of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) systems has been postulated to indicating 1/3 fractional charge quasiparticle excitations arising from electron-electron interactions. Tunneling shot-noise experiments on 2DEF exhibiting fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) shows evidence for tunnelling of particles with eand e/3 charges for a constant band mass. A “1/3” effect in the hydrogen molecule is seen in as much as its internuclear distance,dH-H = D− + D+, with ¦D+/D−¦ = 1/3. This is examined in terms of electron-electron interactions involving electron-and hole quasiparticles, (e-)and(h+), equivalent to those observed in FQHE shot -noise experiments. The(e/m) ratio of the (e−) and(h+) quasiparticles is kept at 1: −3. Instead of a 2DEG, these particles are treated as being in flat Bohr orbits. A treatment in the language of charge-flux tube composites for the hydrogen atom as well as the hydrogen molecule is attempted. Such treatment gives important insights into changes in chemical potential and bond energy on crossing a phase boundary during the atom-bond transition as well as on models for FQHE itself.