Coupled-channels quantum theory of electronic flux density in electronically adiabatic processes: application to the hydrogen molecule ion.

This article presents the results of the first quantum simulations of the electronic flux density (j(e)) by the "coupled-channels" (CC) theory, the fundamentals of which are presented in the previous article [Diestler, D. J. J. Phys. Chem. A 2012, DOI: 10.1021/jp207843z]. The principal advantage of the CC scheme is that it employs exclusively standard methods of quantum chemistry and quantum dynamics within the framework of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation (BOA). The CC theory goes beyond the BOA in that it yields a nonzero j(e) for electronically adiabatic processes, in contradistinction to the BOA itself, which always gives j(e) = 0. The CC is applied to oriented H(2)(+) vibrating in the electronic ground state ((2)Σ(g)(+)), for which the nuclear and electronic flux densities evolve on a common time scale of about 22 fs per vibrational period. The system is chosen as a touchstone for the CC theory, because it is the only one for which highly accurate flux densities have been calculated numerically without invoking the BOA [Barth et al, Chem. Phys. Lett. 2009, 481, 118]. Good agreement between CC and accurate results supports the CC approach, another advantage of which is that it allows a transparent interpretation of the temporal and spatial properties of j(e).