Quantum dynamics simulations of nonadiabatic processes in many-atom systems: Photoexcited Ba(Ar)₁₀ and Ba(Ar)₂₀ clusters

Quantum simulations are reported for the dynamics following the photoexcitation Ba(¹S→Ba(¹P) in Ba(Ar)₁₀ and Ba(Ar)₂₀ clusters. The evolution in time is studied in a framework that treats quantum-mechanically all the coupled degrees of freedom. The focus is on the role of nonadiabatic transitions between the three adiabatic surfaces corresponding to the P states of the Ba atom. The time scales of electronic relaxation and of electronic depolarization (orbital reorientation) are computed, and the competition between adiabatic and nonadiabatic effects is assessed. The calculations are carried out by a new scheme that extends the recent classically based separable potential method. Semiclassical surface-hopping simulations are used to produce effective single-mode potentials on which nuclear "orbitals" are then generated. The full wave packet is constructed from the electronic states involved, and from these nuclear wave functions. Among the main results we find that nonadiabatic transitions become appreciable around 1 ps after photoexcitation, and they are stronger in the smaller cluster. Comparing Tully's semiclassical method with the quantum simulations, good qualitative agreement is found. Quantitatively, the semiclassical predictions for the electronic states branching rations deviate from the quantum results roughly by a factor of 2 after 1 ps. In the smaller cluster direct dissociation of the Ba atom dominates over energy redistribution within the cluster, the opposite being true for the large system. This example demonstrates the feasibility of quantum simulations of nonadiabatic processes in large systems with the new method.