arXiv subjects

Joseph Subotnik

Publications and source records attributed to Joseph Subotnik.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Phase Space Electronic Structure View of The Solid State

We develop a phase space electronic structure view of the solid state, where electronic bands are parameterized by both nuclear position $\mathbf{Q}$ and nuclear momentum $\mathbf{\Pi}$ (rather than the standard practice of only $\mathbf{Q}$). Within this phase space, non-Born-Oppenheimer electronic structure context, we prove a nuclear wavevector ($\mathbf{q}$)-dependent version of Nafie's equality relating the change in electronic momentum as a function of nuclear momentum, $\partial \langle\mathbf{p}\rangle/\partial \mathbf{\Pi}_q$, to the change in electronic position as a function of nuclear position, $\partial \langle\mathbf{r}\rangle/\partial \mathbf{Q}_q$. Furthermore, we show how information about electron-phonon interactions, specifically nuclear-induced electronic momentum, can be extracted from simple band structure calculations -- without Berry curvature calculations.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2026

Electronic Structure in a Phase Space, non-Born-Oppenheimer Framework: Geometric Forces and Moody-Shapere-Wilzcek Revisited

We revisit the three-body problem in quantum mechanics in two and three dimensions, generating both exact eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the Hamiltonian and a series of approximate solutions as calculated with a variety of different schemes to separate heavy ("nuclear") and light ("electronic") particles. We show that, with minimal extra cost, one can go beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation by performing electronic structure calculations parameterized by both the nuclear position (${\mathbf X})$ and the nuclear momentum ($\mathbf{P}$), a so-called phase space theory of electronic structure. In particular, we demonstrate that such phase space electronic structure calculations correctly incorporate the non-inertial Coriolis and centrifugal forces felt by electrons in a moving nuclear frame, thus leading to far more accurate eigenenergies and electronic angular momenta than has been possible before. We also demonstrate that our approach naturally incorporates and generalizes the Moody-Shapere-Wilczek magnetic monopole for the non-abelian Berry curvature (now allowing for vibrational motion rather than a diatomic of fixed length). We argue that the resulting approach should be extremely useful for propagating dynamics where angular momentum flows between nuclei and electrons; in particular, if extended to include spin degrees of freedom, the present approach will offer a practical means to study chiral induced spin selectivity through the lens of chiral phonons and coupled nuclear-electronic motion.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Nuclear Angular Momentum Generation in Thermally Driven Chiral Systems

The appearance of angular momentum in the nuclear motion of molecular systems lacking inversion symmetry under imposed thermal gradients presents a novel mechanism with potential implications for spintronics, magnetic response, and energy transport in such systems. Here we explore this phenomenon, using theoretical analysis and numerical simulations to study angular momentum generation in several driven chiral molecular models. We demonstrate that significant vibrational angular momentum can be induced under both mechanical and thermal driving, with magnitude comparable to that induced in optically driven chiral phonons. We find that generation of angular momentum is a common and general phenomenon in driven chiral structures, highlighting the role of symmetry-breaking in the (non-equilibrium) internal atomic motion of such systems.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Symmetry Breaking as Predicted by a Phase Space Hamiltonian with a Spin Coriolis Potential

We perform electronic structure calculations for a set of molecules with degenerate spin-dependent ground states ($^3$CH$_2$, $^2$CH$_3^{\bullet}$, $^3$O$_2$) going beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and accounting for nuclear motion. According to a phase space (PS) approach that parametrizes electronic states ($|\Phi\rangle$) and electronic energies ($E$) by nuclear position and momentum (i.e., $|\Phi(\mathbf{R},\mathbf{P}) \rangle$ and $E(\mathbf{R},\mathbf{P})$), we find that the presence of degenerate spin degrees of freedom leads to broken symmetry ground states. More precisely, rather than a single degenerate minimum at $(\mathbf{R},\mathbf{P}) = (\mathbf{R}_{min}, 0)$, the ground state energy has two minima at $(\mathbf{R},\mathbf{P}) = (\mathbf{R}_{min}',\pm \mathbf{P}_{min})$ (where $\mathbf{R}_{min}'$ is close to $\mathbf{R}_{min}$), dramatically contradicting the notion that the total energy of the system can be written in separable form as $E = \frac{\mathbf{P}^2}{2M} + V_{el}$. Although we find that the broken symmetry solutions have small barriers between them for the small molecules, we hypothesize that the barriers should be macroscopically large for metallic solids, thus offering up a new phase-space potential energy surface for simulating the Einstein-de Haas effect.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

The Role of Quantum Vibronic Effects in the Spin Polarization of Charge Transport through Molecular Junctions

The connection between molecular vibrations and spin polarization in charge transport through molecular junctions is currently a topic of high interest, with important consequences for a variety of phenomena, such as chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS). In this work, we follow this theme by exploring the relationship between vibronic dynamics and the corresponding spin polarization of the nonequilibrium charge current in a molecular junction. We employ the hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) approach, which, since it is numerically exact and treats the vibrational degrees of freedom quantum mechanically, extends previous analyses of similar models that relied on approximate transport methods. We find significant spin polarization of the charge current in the off-resonant, low-voltage regime, where the vibrations must be treated quantum mechanically. Furthermore, we are able to connect the spin polarization in the charge transport to a corresponding polarization of the vibrational dynamics, which manifests itself in the vibrational angular momentum and excitation. Our analysis covers multiple molecule-lead couplings, temperatures, orbital energies, and spin-orbit couplings, demonstrating that the vibrationally assisted spin polarization is robust across a broad range of parameters.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Chiral Vibrational Modes in Small Molecules

The development of quantitative methods for characterizing molecular chirality can provide an important tool for studying chirality induced phenomena in molecular systems. Significant progress has been made in recent years toward understanding the chirality of molecular normal vibrational modes, mostly focusing on vibrations of helical molecular structures. In the present study, we examine the applicability two methodologies previously used for helical structures for the quantification of the chirality of molecular normal modes across a range of small, not necessarily helical, molecules. The first approach involves the application of the Continuous Chirality Measure (CCM) to each normal mode by associating the mode with a structure formed by imposing the corresponding motion about a common origin. The second approach assigns to each normal mode a pseudoscalar defined as the product of atomic linear and angular momentum summed over all atoms. In particular, using the CCM also as a measure of the chirality of the underlying molecular structure, we establish the existence of correlation between the chirality of molecular normal modes and that of the underlying molecular structure. Furthermore, we find that normal modes associated with different frequency ranges of the molecular vibrational spectrum exhibit distinct handedness behavior.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2024

Angular Momentum Transfer between a Molecular System and a Continuous Circularly Polarized Light Field under the Born-Oppenheimer Framework

We demonstrate (both analytically and numerically) total angular momentum conservation for a molecular system subject to circularly polarized light (CPL) field moving along a single Born-Oppenheimer surface, where all of the angular momentum transfer is embodied in a Berry force. Moreover, we demonstrate that the model Hamiltonian proposed in [J. Chem. Phys. 150, 124101 (2019)] in fact corresponds physically to a homonuclear diatomic in a CPL field. Our results not only reveal an interesting microscopic mechanism for angular momentum transfer between a molecule and a radiation field, but they also provide new insight into the nature of novel semiclassical non-adiabatic dynamics methods that conserve the total angular momentum (including, e.g., phase-space surface-hopping methods).

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2024

Spin-Dependent Stereochemistry: A Non-adiabatic Quantum Dynamics Case Study of S + H2 -> SH + H Reaction

We study the spin-dependent stereodynamics of the S + H2 -> SH + H reaction using full-dimensional quantum dynamics calculations with zero total nuclear angular momentum along the triplet 3A" states and singlet 1A' states. We find that the interplay between the electronic spin direction and the molecular geometry has a measurable influence on the singlet-triplet intersystem crossing reaction probabilities. Our results show that for some incident scattering angles in the body-fixed frame, the relative difference in intersystem crossing reaction probabilities (as determined between spin up and spin down initial states) can be as large as 15%. Our findings are an ab initio demonstration of spin-dependent nonadiabatic dynamics which we hope will shine light as far as understanding the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

Diagonalizing the Born-Oppenheimer Hamiltonian via Moyal Perturbation Theory, Nonadiabatic Corrections and Translational Degrees of Freedom

This article describes a method for calculating higher order or nonadiabatic corrections in Born-Oppenheimer theory and its interaction with the translational degrees of freedom. The method uses the Wigner-Weyl correspondence to map nuclear operators into functions on the classical phase space and the Moyal star product to represent operator multiplication on those functions. The result is a power series in $\kappa^2$, where $\kappa =(m/M)^{1/4}$ is the usual Born-Oppenheimer parameter. The lowest order term is the usual Born-Oppenheimer approximation while higher order terms are nonadiabatic corrections. These are needed in calculations of electronic currents, momenta and densities. The method was applied to Born-Oppenheimer theory by Littlejohn and Weigert (1993), in a treatment that notably produced the correction $K_{22}$ to the Born-Oppenheimer Hamiltonian (see {\em infra}). Recently Matyus and Teufel (2019) have applied an improved and more elegant version of the method to Born-Oppenheimer theory, and have calculated the Born-Oppenheimer Hamiltonian for multiple potential energy surfaces to order $\kappa^6$. One of the shortcomings of earlier methods is that the separation of nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom takes place in the context of the exact symmetries (for an isolated molecule) of translations and rotations, and these need to be a part of the discussion. This article presents an independent derivation of the Moyal expansion in molecular Born-Oppenheimer theory, with special attention to the translational degrees of freedom. We show how electronic currents and momenta can be calculated within the framework of Moyal perturbation theory; we derive the transformation laws of the electronic Hamiltonian, the electronic eigenstates, and the derivative couplings under translations.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

Nonadiabatic Potential Energy Surfaces For A Molecule on a Surface as Found by Constrained Complete Active Space Theory

In order to study electron-transfer mediated chemical processes on a metal surface, one requires not one but two potential energy surfaces (one ground state and one excited state) as in Marcus theory. In this letter, we report that a novel, dynamically-weighted, state-averaged constrained CASSCF(2,2) (DW-SA-cCASSCF(2,2)) can produce such surfaces for the Anderson Impurity model. Both ground and excited state potentials are smooth, they incorporate states with a charge transfer character, and the accuracy of the ground state surface can be verified for some model problems by renormalization group theory. Future development of gradients and nonadiabatic derivative couplings should allow for the study of non-adiabatic dynamics for molecules near metal surfaces.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

Representation and Conservation of Angular Momentum in the Born-Oppenheimer Theory of Polyatomic Molecules

This paper concerns the representation of angular momentum operators in the Born-Oppenheimer theory of polyatomic molecules and the various forms of the associated conservation laws. Topics addressed include the question of whether these conservation laws are exactly equivalent or only to some order of the Born-Oppenheimer parameter $\kappa=(m/M)^{1/4}$, and what the correlation is between angular momentum quantum numbers in the various representations. These questions are addressed both in problems involving a single potential energy surface, and those with multiple, strongly coupled surfaces; and both in the electrostatic model and those for which fine structure and electron spin are important. The analysis leads to an examination of the transformation laws under rotations of the electronic Hamiltonian; of the basis states, both adiabatic and diabatic, along with their phase conventions; of the potential energy matrix; and of the derivative couplings. These transformation laws are placed in the geometrical context of the structures in the nuclear configuration space that are induced by rotations, which include the rotational orbits or fibers, the surfaces upon which the orientation of the molecule changes but not its shape; and the section, an initial value surface that cuts transversally through the fibers. Finally, it is suggested that the usual Born-Oppenheimer approximation can be replaced by a dressing transformation, that is, a sequence of unitary transformations that block-diagonalize the Hamiltonian. When the dressing transformation is carried out, we find that the angular momentum operator does not change. This is a part of a system of exact equivalences among various representations of angular momentum operators in Born-Oppenheimer theory...

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2022

Dissociation slowdown by collective optical response under strong coupling conditions

We consider an ensemble of diatomic molecules resonantly coupled to an optical cavity under strong coupling conditions at normal incidence. Photodissociation dynamics is examined via direct numerical integration of the coupled Maxwell-Schrodinger equations with molecular ro-vibrational degrees of freedom explicitly taken into account. It is shown that the dissociation is significantly affected (slowed down) when the system is driven at its polaritonic frequencies. The observed effect is demonstrated to be of transient nature and has no classical analog. An intuitive explanation of the dissociation slowdown at polaritonic frequencies is proposed.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2022

A Quantum-Classical Liouville Formalism in a Preconditioned Basis and Its Connection with Phase-Space Surface Hopping

We revisit a recent proposal to model nonadiabatic problems with a complex-valued Hamiltonian through a phase-space surface hopping (PSSH) algorithm employing a pseudo-diabatic basis. Here, we show that such a pseudo-diabatic PSSH (PD-PSSH) ansatz is consistent with a quantum-classical Liouville equation (QCLE) that can be derived following a preconditioning process, and we demonstrate that a proper PD-PSSH algorithm is able to capture some geometric magnetic effects (whereas the standard FSSH approach cannot). We also find that a preconditioned QCLE can outperform the standard QCLE in certain cases, highlighting the fact that there is no unique QCLE. Lastly, we also point out that one can construct a mean-field Ehrenfest algorithm using a phase-space representation similar to what is done for PSSH. These findings would appear extremely helpful as far understanding and simulating nonadiabatic dynamics with complex-valued Hamiltonians and/or spin degeneracy.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

The Parallel-Transported (Quasi)-Diabatic Basis

This article concerns the use of parallel transport to create a diabatic basis. The advantages of the parallel-transported basis include the facility with which Taylor series expansions can be carried out in the neighborhood of a point or a manifold such as a seam (the locus of degeneracies of the electronic Hamiltonian), and the close relationship between the derivative couplings and the curvature in this basis. These are important for analytic treatments of the nuclear Schr\"odinger equation in a neighborhood of degeneracies. The parallel-transported basis bears a close relationship to the singular-value basis; in this article both are expanded in power series about a reference point and they are shown to agree through second order but not beyond. Taylor series expansions are effected through the projection operator, whose expansion does not involve energy denominators or any type of singularity, and in terms of which both the singular-value basis and the parallel-transported basis can be expressed. The parallel-transported basis is a version of Poincar\'e gauge, well known in electromagnetism, which provides a relationship between the derivative couplings and the curvature and which, along with a formula due to Mead, affords an efficient method for calculating Taylor series of the basis states and the derivative couplings. The case in which fine structure effects are included in the electronic Hamiltonian is covered.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2022

Active Spaces and Non-Orthogonal Configuration Interaction Approaches for Investigating Molecules on Metal Surfaces

We test a set of multiconfigurational wavefunction approaches for calculating the ground state electron population for a two-site Anderson model representing a molecule on a metal surface. In particular, we compare (i) a Hartree Fock like wavefunction where frontier orbitals are allowed to be nonorthogonal versus (ii) a fully non-orthogonal configuration interaction wavefunction based on constrained Hartree-Fock states. We test both the strong and weak metal-molecule hybridization ($\Gamma$) limits as well as the strong and weak electron-electron repulsion (U) limits. We obtain accurate results as compared with exact numerical renormalization group (NRG) theory, recovering charge transfer states where appropriate. The current framework should open a path to run molecular non-adiabatic dynamics on metal surfaces.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2021

On The Inclusion of One Double Within CIS and TD-DFT

We present an improved approach for generating a set of optimized frontier orbitals (HOMO and LUMO) that minimizes the energy of one double configuration. We further benchmark the effect of including such a double within a CIS or TD-DFT configuration interaction Hamiltonian for a set of test cases. We find that, although we cannot achieve quantitative accuracy, the algorithm is quite robust and routinely delivers an enormous qualitative improvement to standard single-reference electronic structure calculations.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2020

Electronic Structure for Multielectronic Molecules Near a Metal Surface

We analyze a model problem representing a multi-electronic molecule sitting on a metal surface. Working with a reduced configuration interaction Hamiltonian, we show that one can extract very accurate ground state wavefunctions as compared with the numerical renormalization group theory (NRG) -- even in the limit of weak metal-molecule coupling strength but strong intramolecular electron-electron repulsion. Moreover, we extract what appear to be meaningful excitation energies as well. Our findings should lay the groundwork for future {\em ab initio} studies of charge transfer processes and bond making/breaking processes on metal surfaces.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2020

Chemical Reaction Rates for Systems with Spin-Orbit Coupling and an Odd Number of Electrons: Does Berry's Phase Lead to Meaningful Spin-Dependent Nuclear Dynamics for a Two State Crossing?

Within the context of very simple avoided crossing, we investigate the investigate the effect of a complex diabatic coupling in determining spin-dependent rate constants and scattering states. We find that, if the molecular geometry is not linear and the Berry force is not zero, one can find significant spin polarization of the products. This study emphasizes that, when analyzing nonadiabatic reactions with spin orbit coupling (and a complex Hamiltonian), one must consider how Berry force affects nuclear motion -- at least in the context of gas phase reactions. Work is currently ongoing as far as extrapolating these conclusions to the condensed phase where interesting spin selection has been observed in recent years.

physics.chem-ph↗