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The Journal of Chemical Physics

Electronic transitions with quantum trajectories. II

Courtney L. Lopreore, Róbert E. Wyatt

Published Jan 22, 2002• 78 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The quantum trajectory method (QTM) is applied to nonadiabatic electronic transitions. Equations of motion in a Lagrangian framework are derived for the probability density, velocity, position, and action functions for a discretized wave packet moving along coupled potential energy surfaces. In solving these equations of motion, we obtain agreement with exact quantum results computed by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation on a space-fixed grid. On each of the coupled potential energy surfaces, the dynamics of the trajectories is fully quantum mechanical, i.e., there are no “surface–hopping transitions.” We present a detailed analysis of the QTM results including density changes, complex oscillations of the wave functions, phase space analysis, and a detailed discussion of the forces that contribute to the evolution the trajectories.

DOI
10.1063/1.1427916

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The quantum trajectory method (QTM) is applied to nonadiabatic electronic transitions. Equations of motion in a Lagrangian framework are derived for the probability density, velocity, position, and action functions for a discretized wave packet moving along coupled potential energy surfaces. In solving these equations of motion, we obtain agreement with exact quantum results computed by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation on a space-fixed grid. On each of the coupled potential energy surfaces, the dynamics of the trajectories is fully quantum mechanical, i.e., there are no “surface–hopping transitions.” We present a detailed analysis of the QTM results including density changes, complex oscillations of the wave functions, phase space analysis, and a detailed discussion of the forces that contribute to the evolution the trajectories.
The quantum trajectory method (QTM) is extended to the dynamics of electronic nonadiabiatic collisions. Equations of motion are first derived for the probability density, velocity, and action function for wave packets moving on each of the coupled electronic potential surfaces. These discretized equations are solved in the Lagrangian (moving with the fluid) picture to give the trajectory dynamics of fluid elements evolving on each potential surface. This trajectory method is fully quantum mechanical and does not involve “trajectory surface hopping.” The method is applied to nonadiabiatic collision models involving two coupled electronic states. The quantum trajectory results are in excellent agreement with solutions computed (using space-fixed grid methods) directly from the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.
The quantum trajectory method (QTM) for time-dependent wave packet dynamics involves integration of the de Broglie–Bohm hydrodynamic equations for the evolving probability fluid [C. Lopreore and R. E. Wyatt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 5190 (1999)]. The equations of motion for discretized elements of the probability fluid (particles) are integrated in the Lagrangian, moving with the fluid, picture. These fluid elements move under the influence of both the usual potential energy function and the quantum potential, which involves the curvature of the quantum amplitude. The quantum potential and the quantum force are evaluated using a moving weighted least squares algorithm. As a demonstration of applicability, the QTM is applied to a model collinear reaction with an activation barrier. The reaction probabilities are in good agreement with exact quantum results, even for a relatively small number of particles in the ensemble. The QTM accurately describes tunneling using only real valued trajectories. In addition to the reaction probability, plots are presented to show the probability density and the flux distributions at several time steps during the reaction.
The quantum trajectory method (QTM) was recently developed to solve the hydrodynamic equations of motion in the Lagrangian, moving-with-the-fluid, picture. In this approach, trajectories are integrated for N fluid elements (particles) moving under the influence of both the force from the potential surface and from the quantum potential. In this study, distributed approximating functionals (DAFs) are used on a uniform grid to compute the necessary derivatives in the equations of motion. Transformations between the physical grid where the particle coordinates are defined and the uniform grid are handled through a Jacobian, which is also computed using DAFs. A difficult problem associated with computing derivatives on finite grids is the edge problem. This is handled effectively by using DAFs within a least squares approach to extrapolate from the known function region into the neighboring regions. The QTM–DAF is then applied to wave packet transmission through a one-dimensional Eckart potential. Emphasis is placed upon computation of the transmitted density and wave function. A problem that develops when part of the wave packet reflects back into the reactant region is avoided in this study by introducing a potential ramp to sweep the reflected particles away from the barrier region.
Dynamics based on quantum trajectories with approximate quantum potential is generalized to nonadiabatic systems and its semiclassical properties are discussed. The formulation uses the mixed polar-coordinate space representation of a wave function. The polar part describes the overall time evolution of the wave-function components semiclassically using the single-surface approximate quantum potential. The coordinate part represents a complex``population'' amplitude, which in case of localized coupling can be solved for quantum mechanically in an efficient manner. In the high-energy regime this is accomplished by using a small basis determined by the coupling between surfaces. An illustration is given for a typical curve-crossing problem. The energy-resolved probabilities obtained from the time evolution of two wave packets for a wide range of energies are in excellent agreement with exact results for energies above the threshold of the diabatic reaction, including the case of total nonadiabatic transition.
The coupled Schrödinger equations that describe nonadiabatic dynamics are recast using the Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics. The resulting coupled Bohm equations are solved numerically for two scattering models, giving results that are essentially identical to wave-packet solution of the original coupled Schrödinger equations. The classical limit of the set of coupled Bohm equations is then described, producing a mixed quantum-classical theory incorporating classical-like motion on each potential energy surface accompanied by quantum transitions between the quantum states. Numerical tests of the mixed quantum-classical method are in excellent agreement with the accurate full-quantum results for the model problems. The method is contrasted with the related surface-hopping approach. It is shown that computing the dynamics of a distribution of classical particles is more consistent and more accurate than computing the motion of independent point particles as with surface hopping.
The quantum trajectory method was recently developed to solve the hydrodynamic equations of motion in the Lagrangian, moving-with-the-fluid, picture. In this approach, trajectories are integrated for fluid elements (“particles”) moving under the influence of the combined force from the potential surface and the quantum potential. To accurately compute the quantum potential and the quantum force, it is necessary to obtain the derivatives of a function given only the values on the unstructured mesh defined by the particle locations. However, in some regions of space–time, the particle mesh shows compression and inflation associated with regions of large and small density, respectively. Inflation is especially severe near nodes in the wave function. In order to circumvent problems associated with highly nonuniform grids defined by the particle locations, adaptation of moving grids is introduced in this study. By changing the representation of the wave function in these local regions (which can be identified by diagnostic tools), propagation is possible to much longer times. These grid adaptation techniques are applied to the reflected portion of a wave packet scattering from an Eckart potential.