Title page for ETD etd-02182005-143634


Type of Document Dissertation
Author Abrams, Micah Lowell
URN etd-02182005-143634
Title General-Order Single-Reference and Mulit-Reference Methods in Quantum Chemistry
Degree Doctor of Philosophy
Department Chemistry and Biochemistry
Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title
Sherrill, C. David Committee Chair
El-Sayed, Mostafa Committee Member
Hernandez, Rigoberto Committee Member
Orlando, Thomas Committee Member
Uzer, Turgay Committee Member
Keywords
  • coupled-cluster theory
  • configuration interaction
  • quantum chemistry
Date of Defense 2005-02-25
Availability unrestricted
Abstract
Many-body perturbation theory and coupled-cluster theory, combined with carefully constructed basis sets, can be used to accurately compute the properties of small molecules. We applied a series of methods and basis sets aimed at reaching the ab initio limit to determine the barrier to planarity for ethylene cation. For potential energy surfaces corresponding to bond dissociation, a single Slater determinant is no longer an appropriate reference, and the single-reference hierarchy breaks down. We computed full configuration interaction benchmark data for calibrating new and existing quantum chemical methods for the accurate description of potential energy surfaces. We used the data to calibrate single-reference configuration interaction, perturbation theory, and coupled-cluster theory and multi-reference configuration interaction and perturbation theory, using various types of molecular orbitals, for breaking single and multiple bonds on ground-state and excited-state surfaces. We developed a determinant-based method which generalizes the formulation of many-body wave functions and energy expectation values. We used the method to calibrate single-reference and multi-reference configuration interaction and coupled-cluster theories, using different types of molecular orbitals, for the symmetric dissociation of water. We extended the determinant-based method to work with general configuration lists, enabling us to study, for the first time, arbitrarily truncated coupled-cluster wave functions. We used this new capability to study the importance of configurations in configuration interaction and coupled-cluster wave functions at different regions of a potential energy surface.
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