Trajectory Surface Hopping Method Research Articles

Study of the Vibrational Predissociation of the NeBr2 Complex by Computational Simulation Using the Trajectory Surface Hopping Method

The vibrational predissociation of NeBr2 has been studied using a variety of theoretical and experimental methods, producing a large number of results. It is therefore a useful system for comparing different theoretical methods. Here, we apply the trajectory surface hopping (TSH) method that consists of propagating the dynamics of the system on a potential energy surface (PES) corresponding to quantum molecular vibrational states with possibility of hopping towards other surfaces until the van der Waals bond dissociates. This allows quantum vibrational effects to be added to a classical dynamics approach. We have also incorporated the kinetic mechanism for a better compression of the evolution of the complex. The novelty of this work is that it allows us to incorporate all the surfaces for (v=16,17,…,29) into the dynamics of the system. The calculated lifetimes are similar to those previously reported experimentally and theoretically. The rotational distribution, the rotational energy and jmax are in agreement with other works, providing new information for this complex.

Classical and nonclassical effects in surface hopping methodology for simulating coupled electronic-nuclear dynamics.

In this paper, we analyze the detailed quantum-classical behavior of two alternative approaches to simulating molecular dynamics with electronic transitions: the popular fewest switches surface hopping (FSSH) method, introduced by Tully in 1990 [Tully, J. Chem. Phys., 1990, 93, 1061] and our recently developed quantum trajectory surface hopping (QTSH) method [Martens, J. Phys. Chem. A, 2019, 123, 1110]. Both approaches employ an independent ensemble of trajectories that undergo stochastic transitions between electronic surfaces. The methods differ in their treatment of energy conservation, with FSSH imposing conservation of the classical kinetic plus potential energy by rescaling the classical momentum when a surface hop occurs while QTSH incorporates a quantum force throughout the dynamics which leads naturally to the conservation of the full quantum-classical energy. We investigate the population transfer and energy budget of the surface hopping methods for several simple model systems and compare with exact quantum results. In addition, the detailed dynamics of the trajectory ensembles in phase space are compared with the quantum evolution in the Wigner representation. Conclusions are drawn.

Importance of intersystem crossing in the C(3P) + SiH4 reaction.

The contribution of intersystem crossing (ISC) in the C(3P) + SiH4 reaction that leads to products formation in the singlet electronic state is investigated using a direct dynamics trajectory surface hopping (TSH) method with Tully's fewest switches algorithm. Interestingly, in contrast to the O(3P) + SiH4 reaction with no ISC effect, for the title reaction we observed ∼7% product formation through ISC despite weak spin-orbit coupling interactions (less than 25 cm-1) between the ground singlet and triplet states. This is presumably because of the topological differences in the potential energy surfaces of the two reactions at the entrance channel. The O(3P) + SiH4 reaction follows either an addition reaction (with shallow attractive potential and a late singlet-triplet crossing) or a direct abstraction pathway with singlet-triplet crossing at near or after the top of the barrier making ISC ineffective. On the other hand, an insertion mechanism is exclusively followed by the C(3P) + SiH4 reaction with no entrance barrier to the reaction in the triplet state. The triplet insertion complex initially formed (3H3SiCH) can go to the singlet state through ISC due to the fact that the triplet-singlet crossing is accessed several times during the course of the reaction. Our computed overall product angular distributions for H and H2 elimination channels are found to be broad and flat or nearly isotropic in nature indicating the formation of stable intermediate complexes, which corroborates the most recent crossed molecular-beam study.

Nonadiabatic dynamics in multidimensional complex potential energy surfaces.

Despite the continuous development of theoretical methodologies for describing nonadiabatic dynamics of molecular systems, there is a lack of approaches for processes where the norm of the wave function is not conserved, i.e., when an imaginary potential accounts for some irreversible decaying mechanism. Current approaches rely on building potential energy surfaces of reduced dimensionality, which is not optimal for more involving and realistic multidimensional problems. Here, we present a novel methodology for describing the dynamics of complex-valued molecular Hamiltonians, which is a generalisation of the trajectory surface hopping method. As a first application, the complex surface fewest switches surface hopping (CS-FSSH) method was employed to survey the relaxation mechanisms of the shape resonant anions of iodoethene. We have provided the first detailed and dynamical picture of the π*/σ* mechanism of dissociative electron attachment in halogenated unsaturated compounds, which is believed to underlie electron-induced reactions of several molecules of interest. Electron capture into the π* orbital promotes C Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 ]]> C stretching and out-of-plane vibrations, followed by charge transfer from the double bond into the σ* orbital at the C–I bond, and, finally, release of the iodine ion, all within only 15 fs. On-the-fly dynamics simulations of a vast class of processes can be envisioned with the CS-FSSH methodology, including autoionisation from transient anions, core-ionised and superexcited states, Auger and interatomic coulombic decay, and time-dependent luminescence.

Performance of trajectory surface hopping method in the treatment of ultrafast intersystem crossing dynamics.

We carried out extensive studies to examine the performance of the fewest-switches surface hopping method in the description of the ultrafast intersystem crossing dynamic of various singlet-triplet (S-T) models by comparison with the results of the exact full quantum dynamics. Different implementation details and some derivative approaches were examined. As expected, it is better to perform the trajectory surface hopping calculations in the spin-adiabatic representation or by the local diabatization approach, instead of in the spin-diabatic representation. The surface hopping method provides reasonable results for the short-time dynamics in the S-T model with weak spin-orbital coupling (diabatic coupling), although it does not perform well in the models with strong spin-orbital coupling (diabatic coupling). When the system accesses the S-T potential energy crossing with rather high kinetic energy, the trajectory surface hopping method tends to produce a good description of the nonadiabatic intersystem crossing dynamics. The impact of the decoherence correction on the performance of the trajectory surface hopping is system dependent. It improves the result accuracy in many cases, while its influence may also be minor for other cases.

Assessing the performance of trajectory surface hopping methods: Ultrafast internal conversion in pyrazine.

Trajectory surface hopping (TSH) methods have been widely used to study photoinduced nonadiabatic processes. In the present study, nonadiabatic dynamics simulations with the widely used Tully's fewest switches surface hopping (FSSH) algorithm and a Landau-Zener-type TSH (LZSH) algorithm have been performed for the internal conversion dynamics of pyrazine. The accuracy of the two TSH algorithms has been critically evaluated by a direct comparison with exact quantum dynamics calculations for a model of pyrazine. The model comprises the three lowest excited electronic states (B3u(nπ*), A1u(nπ*), and B2u(ππ*)) and the nine most relevant vibrational degrees of freedom. Considering photoexcitation to the diabatic B2u(ππ*) state, we examined the time-dependent diabatic and adiabatic electronic population dynamics. It is found that the diabatic populations obtained with both TSH methods are in good agreement with the exact quantum results. Fast population oscillations between the B3u(nπ*) and A1u(nπ*) states, which reflect nonadiabatic electronic transitions driven by coherent dynamics in the normal mode Q8a, are qualitatively reproduced by both TSH methods. In addition to the model study, the TSH methods have been interfaced with the second-order algebraic diagrammatic construction ab initio electronic-structure method to perform full-dimensional on-the-fly nonadiabatic dynamics simulations for pyrazine. It is found that the electronic population dynamics obtained with the LZSH method is in excellent agreement with that obtained by the FSSH method using a local diabatization algorithm. Moreover, the electronic populations of the full-dimensional on-the-fly calculations are in excellent agreement with the populations of the three-state nine-mode model, which confirms that the internal conversion dynamics of pyrazine is accurately represented by this reduced-dimensional model on the time scale under consideration (200 fs). The original FSSH method, in which the electronic wave function is propagated in the adiabatic representation, yields less accurate results. The oscillations in the populations of the diabatic B3u(nπ*) and A1u(nπ*) states driven by the mode Q8a are also observed in the full-dimensional dynamics simulations.

Nonadiabatic dynamics simulation method for transition metal complexes: Theory, developments, and applications

Excited-state related properties of transition metal complexes have received much attention in recent years due to their potential applications in the field of energy, material and biology. To fully understand the underlying mechanism, we always need to resort to ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopies as well as reliable ab initio nonadiabatic dynamics simulations. However, nonadiabatic dynamics simulation methods that are suitable for investigating excited-state dynamics of transition metal complexes still demand further developments to improve simulation efficiency and accuracy. In this short review, we have shortly present some recent developments of non-adiabatic dynamics methods that are suitable for investigating excited state properties of transition metal complexes, mainly including Multi-Configuration Time Dependent Hartree (MCTDH) and mixed quantum-classical surface hopping methods. In addition, we have introduced our recently developed TD-DFT-based generalized trajectory surface hopping method in which an efficient algorithm of computing nonadiabatic couplings is realized. In combination with the classical path approximation, this newly developed method can effectively simulate internal conversion and intersystem crossing processes of transition metal complexes on an equal footing. With this newly developed method, we have systematically investigated the early-time ultrafast excited-state dynamics of three Ir(III) complexes bearing distinct ligands. The ISC rates estimated by our simulations are 65, 81 and 140 fs, which agree quite well with experimentally measured ca. 80, 80 and 110 fs. These Ir(III) complexes show similar macroscopic phenomena, i.e., ultrafast IC and ISC, their microscopic excited-state relaxation dynamics are individually different, for example, electron and hole transfer dynamics. These new insights for excited-state dynamics of Ir(III) complexes could be helpful for rationally designing Ir-containing compounds with excellent photoluminescence performance. In addition, we have also investigated the ultrafast intersystem crossing process of Au(I) naphthalene derivatives. We have found that (1) ultrafast and sub-picosecond intersystem crossing processes are mainly caused by small energy gaps and large spin-orbit couplings between S1 and T n . (2) Adding the second gold(I)-phosphine group does not increase spin-orbit couplings between S1 and T n but decrease their values remarkably, which implies that heavy-atom effects are state-specific, not-universal. (3) The position at which the second gold(I)-phosphine group is attached has remarkable influence on electronic structures of S1 and T n and their relative energies, which affect energy gaps and spin-orbit couplings between S1 and T n and eventually modulate intersystem crossing rates from S1 to T n . This work exemplifies that different isomers of a compound could have distinct excited-state relaxation dynamics. Above simulation results not only agree pretty well with experiments, but also provide valuable insights into excited-state relaxation dynamics for these transition-metal-containing complexes. In one word, our present developments have established an efficient and accurate simulation tool for investigating excited-state dynamics of transition metal complexes.

Trajectory surface hopping study of the photodissociation dynamics of methyl radical from the [formula omitted] and [formula omitted] Rydberg states

The photodissociation dynamics of methyl radical from selected vibrational levels of the 3s and 3pz Rydberg states has been studied using the trajectory surface hopping method on one-dimensional potential energy curves along the carbon-hydrogen dissociative coordinate and the non-adiabatic couplings between them, calculated by ab initio methods. Lifetimes and product distributions have been obtained for all the studied vibrational levels and compared with previous theoretical and experimental works. The theoretical lifetimes tend to decrease as vibrational excitation increases in accordance with experimental results. The agreement, however, is only qualitative considering the reduced dimensionality of the model.

Trajectory surface hopping study of propane photodissociation dynamics at 157 nm.

The photodissociation dynamics of propane molecules has been studied using the quasiclassical trajectory surface hopping (TSH) method in conjunction with Tully's fewest switches algorithm. The trajectories are propagated on potential energy surfaces computed on-the-fly using the multiconfiguration and multireference ab initio method starting in the lowest excited singlet state (HOMO → 3s Rydberg state) of propane at 157 nm with the emphasis on the site specificity of atomic hydrogen elimination, molecular hydrogen elimination, and their product branching ratios. Our dynamics simulation revealed that there are three primary dissociation channels: the atomic hydrogen elimination, the molecular hydrogen elimination, and the C-C bond scission. The trajectories indicate that the H2 elimination from the internal carbon atom (2,2-H2 elimination) and terminal carbon atom (1,1-H2 elimination) is the major process and follows a three centred synchronous concerted mechanism. 1,2-H2 and 1,3-H2 eliminations on the other hand are minor processes and exclusively follow the roaming mediated nonadiabatic dynamics. The probability of elimination of the hydrogen atom from two terminal groups (terminal hydrogen elimination) is greater than that from the internal CH2 group (internal hydrogen elimination). Almost 83% of atomic hydrogen elimination occurs through the asynchronous concerted mechanism from the terminal carbon atom via triple dissociation leading to CH3 + C2H4 + H products. This finding is in good agreement with a recent experimental observation. The present TSH study indicates that approximately one-third of the trajectories those resulted in a triple dissociation channel, CH3 + C2H4 + H completed in the ground singlet state following a nonadiabatic path (hopping from the first excited singlet S1 to the ground state S0) via the C-C and C-H dissociation coordinate conical intersection S1/S0. The products CH3(1 2A2″) + C2H4(1Ag) + H, obtained are ground state methyl radicals and ground state ethylene. The trajectories those ended in a triple dissociation channel CH3 + C2H4 + H adiabatically in the S1 state lead to CH3(1 2A2″) + C2H4 (1 3B1) + H, where singlet methyl radicals and triplet ethylene are formed in their corresponding lowest electronic state via a spin conserving route. Two channels, CH4 + CH3CH and C2H6 + CH2, are found to have minor contributions. In the case of methane elimination, the trajectories that follow an adiabatic path lead to CH3CH(1 1A″) + CH4,(1 1A1), where ethylidene is in the excited state and methane is in the ground state. Methane elimination via nonadiabatic path leads to CH3CH(11A') + CH4(1 1A1), where both ethylidene and methane are in the ground electronic state. Ethane eliminations follow the adiabatic path leading to C2H6(1 1A1g) + CH2(1 1B1) where ethane is in the ground state and methylene is in the first excited state.

Dynamics of the C(3P) + Ethylene Reaction: A Trajectory Surface Hopping Study.

The direct dynamics trajectory surface hopping (DDTSH) method has been employed to study the reaction of C(3P) with ethylene (C2H4). Our trajectory simulations show that at a reagent collision energy of 7.36 kcal/mol, there are two possible product channels: propargyl (H2CCCH) + H and carbene (CH2) + acetylene (HCCH). Estimated branching ratios based on trajectory propagations indicate that propargyl radical formation is the dominant channel contributing (94.1 ± 5.2) % of the overall products formation with (5.9 ± 1.7)% contribution from the minor CH2 + HCCH channel. These findings are consistent with earlier experimental observations and theoretical predictions that propargyl (H2CCCH) formation is the dominant channel for the C(3P) + C2H4 collision reaction. Our trajectory simulations, however, unravel five distinctly different dynamical pathways, unlike earlier experimental and theoretical predictions of only two pathways proposed for the formation of propargyl radical, and three different dynamics are followed for the CH2 + HCCH channel (this channel was not detected experimentally). The computed translational energy distribution for the propargyl + H channel is narrower and showed peak maximum at a lower energy compared to the experimental one. While the center of mass product angular distribution based on our trajectory propagation is nearly isotropic in nature indicating formation of long-lived intermediate complexes, the experimental one was reported to be backward-forward distributed with more intensity in the forward direction indicating the formation of an osculating complex. Our trajectory surface hopping calculations confirm that the effect of intersystem crossing (ISC) is not important for the title reaction presumably because of weak spin-orbit coupling values (<10 cm-1) for the (C + C2H4) system. No trace of cyclic products formation was obtained from our trajectory simulations, which however was predicted to be a minor (2%) product channel, experimentally.

Performance of TDDFT with and without spin-flip in trajectory surface hopping dynamics: cis–trans azobenzene photoisomerization

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) with and without a spin-flip scheme is extensively compared in on-the-fly trajectory surface hopping molecular dynamics with a global switching (GS) algorithm. The simulation is performed for cis-trans azobenzene photoisomerization following the excitation to the S1(nπ*) state that is involved in a conical intersection (CI) between ground and first excited states. This CI is found correctly to be a single-cone (artificial double-cone) structure computed by the TDDFT method with (and without) spin-flip. Nevertheless, simulated quantum yields and lifetimes are in very good agreement; 0.43 and 63 fs (0.34 and 62 fs) for cis-to-trans isomerization, and 0.11 and 2200 fs (0.13 and 1040 fs) for trans-to-cis isomerization, by TDDFT with (and without) a spin-flip scheme. Distributions of excited-state decay, hopping spots and products, as well as typical trajectories have similar patterns and behaviors with and without spin-flip. The global switching trajectory surface hopping method is demonstrated to be well suited to TDDFT on-the-fly dynamic simulation with and without spin-flip. For comparison, previous simulations with the CASSCF method and Tully's fewest-switches trajectory surface hopping method are also addressed.

Accuracy of trajectory surface-hopping methods: Test for a two-dimensional model of the photodissociation of phenol.

Trajectory surface hopping (TSH) methods have been widely used for the study of nonadiabatic molecular dynamics. In the present work, the accuracy of two TSH algorithms, Tully's fewest switching algorithm and an algorithm based on the Landau-Zener formula, has been critically evaluated in comparison with exact nonadiabatic quantum dynamics calculations for a model of the photoinduced hydrogen-atom dissociation reaction in phenol. The model consists of three electronic states (S0, 1ππ*, 1πσ*) and two nuclear degrees of freedom (the OH stretching coordinate and CCOH dihedral angle) and displays two successive conical intersections (1ππ*/1πσ* and 1πσ*/S0). Considering instantaneous photoexcitation from different vibrational levels of the S0 state to the 1ππ* state, we examined the time-dependent electronic population dynamics as well as the branching ratio of the two dissociation channels. The results of fully converged trajectory calculations are compared with the results of exact quantum wave-packet calculations. It is found that both TSH algorithms describe the dynamics at the 1πσ*/S0 conical intersection, which is accessed with high excess energy, with good accuracy. The 1ππ*/1πσ* conical intersection, on the other hand, is accessed with little excess energy so tunneling effects as well as wave-packet interference effects which cannot be reproduced with classical trajectory calculations become relevant. Overall, the performance of the fewest-switching and Landau-Zener surface-hopping algorithms for the photodissociation of phenol is very similar. The populations of the adiabatic S1 and S2 states are found to exhibit fast oscillations which reflect nonadiabatic electronic transitions driven by coherent dynamics in the OH stretching mode. These electronic population oscillations are qualitatively reproduced by both TSH algorithms.

Dynamics of the O(3P,1D) + SiH4 reaction: A trajectory surface hopping study

A quasiclassical trajectory surface hopping (TSH) method is employed to study the O(3P,1D) + SiH4 reaction with special emphasis on the contribution of nonadiabatic path in the formation of various products. Tully’s fewest switches algorithm is used to compute nonadiabatic transitions. Our calculation showed that while the H formation is the most important channel for the O(3P) reaction with SiH4, the OH formation is the dominating channel for the O(1D) reaction, at an initial collision energy of 8 kcal/mol. Comparison with a recent crossed molecular beam experiment shows qualitative agreement so as to primary product branching ratios, except for the formation of H2O from the O(1D) reaction that was not detected experimentally. In addition our calculation revealed a major contribution (∼50%) of the H3SiO + H channel from the O(3P) + SiH4 reaction through an addition complex H4SiO intermediate which was also not explored, experimentally.

Benchmark Performance of Global Switching versus Local Switching for Trajectory Surface Hopping Molecular Dynamics Simulation: Cis↔Trans Azobenzene Photoisomerization.

A newly developed global switching algorithm that does not require calculation of nonadiabatic coupling vectors reduces computational costs significantly. However, the accuracy of this simplest nonadiabatic molecular dynamic method has not been extensively compared with the conventional Tully's fewest switches. It is necessary to demonstrate the accuracy of this global switching algorithm. An extensive comparison between local and global switching on-the-fly trajectory surface hopping molecular dynamics is performed for cis-to-trans (800 sampling trajectories) and trans-to-cis (600 sampling trajectories) azobenzene photoisomerization at the OM2/MRCI level. The global switching algorithm is coded into the Newton-X program package. Excellent agreement between the two switching algorithms is obtained not only for highly averaged quantities of quantum yields and lifetimes, but also for detailed contour patterns of product distributions, hopping spot distributions and hopping directions in terms of conical intersections between ground and the first excited states. Therefore, the global switching trajectory surface hopping method can be applied to larger complex systems in which nonadiabatic coupling is not available for excited-state molecular dynamic simulations.

Nonadiabatic ab initio molecular dynamics with PME-ONIOM scheme of photoisomerization reaction between 1,3-cyclohexadiene and 1,3,5-cis-hexatriene in solution phase

The ultra-fast photoisomerization reactions between 1,3-cyclohexadiene (CHD) and 1,3,5-cis-hexatriene (HT) in both hexane and ethanol solvents were revealed by nonadiabatic ab initio molecular dynamics (AI-MD) with a particle-mesh Ewald summation method and our Own N-layered Integrated molecular Orbital and molecular Mechanics model (PME-ONIOM) scheme. Zhu-Nakamura version trajectory surface hopping method (ZN-TSH) was employed to treat the ultra-fast nonadiabatic decaying process. The results for hexane and ethanol simulations reasonably agree with experimental data. The high nonpolar-nonpolar affinity between CHD and the solvent was observed in hexane solvent, which definitely affected the excited state lifetimes, the product branching ratio of CHD:HT, and solute (CHD) dynamics. In ethanol solvent, however, the CHD solute was isomerized in the solvent cage caused by the first solvation shell. The photochemical dynamics in ethanol solvent results in the similar property to the process appeared in vacuo (isolated CHD dynamics).

Quantum trajectory simulation for nonadiabatic molecular dynamics

The mixed quantum-classical (MQC) molecular dynamics (MD) approaches are extremely important in practice since, with the increase of atomic degrees of freedom, a full quantum mechanical evaluation for molecular dynamics would quickly become intractable. Moreover, in some cases, the nonadiabatic effects are of crucial importance in the proximity of conical intersection of potential energy surfaces (PESs), where the energy separation between different PESs becomes comparable to the nonadiabatic coupling. In the past decades, there has been great interest in developing and improving various nonadiabatic MQC-MD protocols. The widely known nonadiabatic MD proposals include the so-called Ehrenfest or time-dependent-Hartree mean-field approach, the trajectory surface-hopping method, and their mixed scheme. Among the trajectory-based surface hopping methods, the most popular one is Tully's fewest switches surface hopping approach. In this approach, the nonadiabatic dynamics is treated by allowing hops from one PES to another, with the hopping probability determined by a certain artificial hopping algorithm. In our present work, we extend the study of a recent work on the nonadiabatic MQC-MD scheme, which is based on a view that the nonadiabatic MQC-MD actually implies an effective quantum measurement on the electronic states by the classical motion of atoms. The new protocol, say, the quantum trajectory (QT) approach, provides a natural interface between the separate quantum and classical treatments, without invoking artificial surface hopping algorithm. Moreover, it also connects two widely adopted nonadiabatic dynamics methods, the Ehrenfest mean-field theory and the trajectory surface-hopping method. In our present study, we implement further the QT approach to simulate several typical potential-surface models, i.e., including the single avoided crossing, dual avoided crossing, extended coupling, dumbbell and double arch potentials. In particular, we simulate and compare three decoherence rates, which are from different physical considerations, i.e., the frozen Gaussian approximation, energy discrimination and force discrimination. We also design simulation algorithms to properly account for the energy conservation and force direction change associated with the surface hopping. In most cases, we find that the QT results are in good agreement with those from the full quantum dynamics, which is insensitive to the specific form of the decoherence rate. But for the model involving strong quantum interference, like other nonadiabatic MQC-MD schemes, the QT approach cannot give desirable results. Developing better method should be useful for future investigations in this research area.

Nonadiabatic dynamics simulation of keto isocytosine: a comparison of dynamical performance of different electronic-structure methods.

The nonadiabatic dynamics of keto isocytosine in the gas phase has been investigated using the on-the-fly trajectory surface hopping method based on two electronic-structure methods: SA-CASSCF and ADC(2). The results estimate an excited-state lifetime of around 1000 fs at the SA-CASSCF level, while a much shorter lifetime of 250-350 fs is obtained at the ADC(2) level. Although three conical intersections (CIs) (Ethyl. I, Ethyl. II and C[double bond, length as m-dash]O stretching) are relevant to the nonadiabatic decay of keto isocytosine, their contributions to the nonadiabatic decay are highly dependent on the electronic-structure methods employed in the dynamics simulation. The Ethyl. II CI is the main channel in the dynamics simulations at the SA-CASSCF level, while the C[double bond, length as m-dash]O stretching CI becomes dominant at the ADC(2) levels. Other high-level electronic-structure methods (MR-CISD and MS-CASPT2) are involved to benchmark our dynamics results. Through the analysis of the reaction pathways from the ground state minimum to the relevant CIs, we expect that the excited-state dynamical features obtained at the MR-CISD and MS-CASPT2 levels should be very similar to those at the SA-CASSCF level. The comparison of results obtained using different excited-state electronic-structure methods could provide guidance for further studies of similar systems.

Quantum-Classical Nonadiabatic Dynamics: Coupled- vs Independent-Trajectory Methods.

Trajectory-based mixed quantum-classical approaches to coupled electron-nuclear dynamics suffer from well-studied problems such as the lack of (or incorrect account for) decoherence in the trajectory surface hopping method and the inability of reproducing the spatial splitting of a nuclear wave packet in Ehrenfest-like dynamics. In the context of electronic nonadiabatic processes, these problems can result in wrong predictions for quantum populations and in unphysical outcomes for the nuclear dynamics. In this paper, we propose a solution to these issues by approximating the coupled electronic and nuclear equations within the framework of the exact factorization of the electron-nuclear wave function. We present a simple quantum-classical scheme based on coupled classical trajectories and test it against the full quantum mechanical solution from wave packet dynamics for some model situations which represent particularly challenging problems for the above-mentioned traditional methods.

Photodissociation dynamics of propyne at 193 nm: a trajectory surface hopping study.

Photodissociation dynamics of propyne at 193 nm are studied using the fewest switches nonadiabatic trajectory surface hopping method on its first excited singlet electronic state (1(1)A''). The trajectories are propagated based on potential energies, gradients and nonadiabatic couplings calculated at the MRCIS(6,7) level with the 6-31++G(d,p) basis set. Our trajectory calculations have revealed that H + H3CCC is the major dissociation channel, which has also been predicted experimentally. For the primary photodissociation channel H + H3CCC we demonstrate that nonadiabatic dynamics do not play a significant role. This observation is however contradictory to most of the previously reported experimental predictions. The calculated product translation energy distribution for the acetylenic H atom elimination peaked at ∼ 18 kcal mol(-1), indicating that the dissociation occurs adiabatically on a moderately repulsive excited surface that correlates with the ground state products (CH3C ≡ C + H). The H atom elimination process from the methyl fragment involving a transition state, which has to compete with the acetylenic H atom dissociation channel with no barrier in the excited singlet surface, was found to be too less probable to make a contribution to product branching. We observed that a fewer but significant number of trajectories led to CH3 + CCH product formation which has not been observed experimentally when propyne is excited at 193 nm.

Nonadiabatic dynamics and photoisomerization of biomimetic photoswitches

N-alkylated indanylidene pyrroline Schiff bases (NAIPs) are of great interest because their photoisomerization mimics the primary photoreactions of the retinal chromophore in rhodopsin. The nonadiabatic dynamics of two NAIP models (OMe-NAIP and dMe-OMe-NAIP) are investigated by trajectory surface-hopping method at the semi-empirical OM2/MRCI level. Both molecules show ultrafast isomerization governed by nonadiabatic dynamics via the S0/S1 conical intersections (CIs). Two CIs, CIα and CIβ, play important roles in the E→Z and Z→E isomerization dynamics, respectively, and are mainly distinguished by different twisting statuses of the central C1′–C4 double bond. Although both compounds show ultrafast nonadiabatic dynamics, the S1 lifetime of dMe-OMe-NAIP is much longer than that of OMe-NAIP. By removing the methyl group, dMe-OMe-NAIP allows less twist at the C1′–C4 double bond than OMe-NAIP. This result in the slower excited-state decay of dMe-OMe-NAIP, providing solid evidence to support a similar hypothesis proposed in a previous study.