The nature of electron correlation in a dissociating bond

Joshua W. Hollett, Laura K. McKemmish, Peter M.W. Gill

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    24 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We have constructed the unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF), restricted HartreeFock (RHF), and full configuration interaction (FCI) position and momentum intracules and holes for HH at bond lengths R from 1 to 10 bohrs. We trace the recently discovered inversion of the UHF position hole at intermediate R to over-localization of the spin-orbitals, and support this by a correlation energy component analysis. The RHF and UHF momentum holes are found to be more complicated; however their features are explained through decomposition of electron correlation effects. The UHF momentum hole is also found to invert and exhibits interesting behavior at large R. The RHF (but not UHF) and FCI momentum intracules exhibit Young-type interference patterns related to recent double photoionization experiments. Our analyses yield the most comprehensive picture to date of the behavior of the electrons during homolytic bond fission.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number224103
    JournalJournal of Chemical Physics
    Volume134
    Issue number22
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 14 Jun 2011

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