A procedure for computing accurate ab initio quartic force fields: Application to HO2+ and H2O

A procedure for the calculation of molecular quartic force fields (QFFs) is proposed and investigated. The goal is to generate highly accurate ab initio QFFs that include many of the so-called "small" effects that are necessary to achieve high accuracy. The small effects investigated in the present study include correlation of the core electrons (core correlation), extrapolation to the one-particle basis set limit, correction for scalar relativistic contributions, correction for higher-order correlation effects, and inclusion of diffuse functions in the one-particle basis set. The procedure is flexible enough to allow for some effects to be computed directly, while others may be added as corrections. A single grid of points is used and is centered about an initial reference geometry that is designed to be as close as possible to the final ab initio equilibrium structure (with all effects included). It is shown that the least-squares fit of the QFF is not compromised by the added corrections, and the balance between elimination of contamination from higher-order force constants while retaining energy differences large enough to yield meaningful quartic force constants is essentially unchanged from the standard procedures we have used for many years. The initial QFF determined from the least-squares fit is transformed to the exact minimum in order to eliminate gradient terms and allow for the use of second-order perturbation theory for evaluation of spectroscopic constants. It is shown that this step has essentially no effect on the quality of the QFF largely because the initial reference structure is, by design, very close to the final ab initio equilibrium structure. The procedure is used to compute an accurate, purely ab initio QFF for the H(2)O molecule, which is used as a benchmark test case. The procedure is then applied to the ground and first excited electronic states of the HO(2) (+) molecular cation. Fundamental vibrational frequencies and spectroscopic constants from these highly accurate QFFs are compared and contrasted with previous experiment and theory. It is concluded that the spectroscopic constants determined for the X(3)A(") and A(1)A(') states of HO(2) (+) are the most accurately available.