Determining quasidiabatic coupled electronic state Hamiltonians using derivative couplings: A normal equations based method.

A self-consistent procedure for constructing a quasidiabatic Hamiltonian representing N(state) coupled electronic states in the vicinity of an arbitrary point in nuclear coordinate space is described. The matrix elements of the Hamiltonian are polynomials of arbitrary order. Employing a crude adiabatic basis, the coefficients of the linear terms are determined exactly using analytic gradient techniques. The remaining polynomial coefficients are determined from the normal form of a system of pseudolinear equations, which uses energy gradient and derivative coupling information obtained from reliable multireference configuration interaction wave functions. In a previous implementation energy gradient and derivative coupling information were employed to limit the number of nuclear configurations at which ab initio data were required to determine the unknown coefficients. Conversely, the key aspect of the current approach is the use of ab initio data over an extended range of nuclear configurations. The normal form of the system of pseudolinear equations is introduced here to obtain a least-squares fit to what would have been an (intractable) overcomplete set of data in the previous approach. This method provides a quasidiabatic representation that minimizes the residual derivative coupling in a least-squares sense, a means to extend the domain of accuracy of the diabatic Hamiltonian or refine its accuracy within a given domain, and a way to impose point group symmetry and hermiticity. These attributes are illustrated using the 1 (2)A(1) and 1 (2)E states of the 1-propynyl radical, CH(3)CC.