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Lengsfield, B. H., III

Publications and source records attributed to Lengsfield, B. H., III.

8 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

The lower electronic states of ClOO - A computational investigation

Eight doublet and eight quartet states of ClOO were investigated by ab initio CI techniques. The potential energy surfaces of the four lowest energy doublet states of both A-double-prime and A-prime symmetry indicate that only the 1 2A-double-prime state is bound. In contrast to the model provided by the HO2 radical, all of the excited doublet states investigated were repulsive with respect to dissociation to Cl + O2 and metastable or bound with respect to dissociation to ClO + O. The transitions to the excited states investigated span the visible and near UV spectral regions, but the transition moments indicate that they are very weak. Since the photolysis products are the same as those of the rapid thermal dissociation, photolysis is not expected to be an important atmospheric process. The soft bending potential for the 1 2A-prime state and the shape of the 1 4A-double-prime state in the entrance channel of the ClO + O yields Cl + O2 reaction provide a qualitative explanation for the underprediction of the low temperature reaction rate by previous trajectory calculations.

Jafri, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Theoretical study of the AlO blue-green (B2Sigma + - X2Sigma +) band system

Two independent, extensive theoretical calculations are reported for the relative band strengths of the AlO (B2Sigma + - X2Sigma +) blue-green system and for the radiative lifetimes of the lowest few vibrational levels of the B2Sigma(+) state. The theoretical lifetimes, which include a small (less than -.5 percent) contribution from bound-bound transitions into the A2Pi state, are in excellent agreement with laser fluorescence studies. The theoretical lifetimes increase monotonically and very slowly with increasing vibrational quantum number. The relative band strengths for the blue-green system derived from the two theoretical calculations are in excellent agreement, but differ systematically from the relative band strengths of Linton and Nicholls (1969). The present results suggest that their self-absorption corrections are not large enough, resulting in relative intensities that are too large, especially for the weak bands with r centroids less than 1.5 A.

Partridge, H.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Theoretical study of NH2 - Potential curves, transition moments, and photodissociation cross sections

Photodissociation cross sections from the ground state of NH2 have been calculated using a pseudodiatomic model. The potential curves needed in these calculations, functions of one NH bond length, were obtained by ab initio MCSCF calculations on the five lowest doublet states of NH2 using a contracted Gaussian basis set of double zeta quality augmented by polarization and Rydberg functions. Transition dipole moments between the ground and excited states were evaluated using MCSCF wave functions.

Saxon, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS1981

On the use of corresponding orbitals in the calculation of nonorthogonal transition moments

Full valence and first-order CI wave functions are invariant with respect to unitary transformations among the valence orbitals. We exploit this degree of freedom and show that by transforming the valence orbitals into a corresponding orbital basis, nonorthogonal transition moment calculations become an easily managed task. Sample full valence calculations on several states of O2(+) and OF are also presented.

Lengsfield, B. H., III↗
NASA NTRS1981

Half-projected Hartree-Fock calculations on several small molecules

The half-projected Hartree-Fock (HPHF) method is examined with respect to its ability to obtain molecular correlation, describe molecular potential energy surfaces, and provide a one-particle basis for more elaborate treatments. The equivalence, aside from questions of efficiency, of two different HPHF algorithms is demonstrated. The results of calculations on H2O, C2, N2, and CH2 indicate that the performance of the HPHF method, with spin projection in appropriate cases, is roughly equivalent to limited MCSCF treatments. In particular, a small but important fraction of the correlation energy, qualitatively correct potential energy surfaces, and good one-particle orbital bases are obtained.

Lengsfield, B. H., III↗
NASA NTRS1981

A hybrid method for improving MCSCF convergence

It has been found that the convergence problems for many ill conditioned single-configuration SCF calculations arise from mixing among only a small number of orbitals. This orbital set includes the highest closed, the partially filled, and (possibly) a few of the lowest virtual orbitals. The fact that convergence problems can be, in very large measure, linked to a small orbital set is used to design a hybrid MCSCF procedure in which these orbitals are treated using a second-order MCSCF method, while other mixings are treated with a lower-order method which avoids the time consuming integral transformation. Tests on BeO show that the hybrid method yields convergence even when the simple lower-order treatment diverges. The method is expected to facilitate determination of MCSCF wave functions for large basis problems and for the construction of potential energy surfaces.

Bauschlicher, C. W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1981

On the low-lying states of MgO. II

Using a double zeta plus polarization basis set of Slater orbitals, full valence MCSCF (FVMCSCF) calculations were performed for the low-lying states of MgO. For each state the FVMCSCF calculations were used to identify the important configurations which are then used in the MCSCF calculation and subsequently as references in a single and double excitation CI calculation. This approach is found to treat all states equivalently, with the maximum error in the computed transition energies and equilibrium bond lengths of 800/cm and approximately 0.03 A, respectively. The b 3 Sigma + state which has yet to be characterized experimentally is predicted to have a transition energy of approximately 8300/cm and a bond length of 1.79 A. A spectroscopic analysis of the potential curves indicates that their shapes are in quite reasonable agreement with the range of experimental results.

Bauschlicher, C. W., Jr.↗