Ring-polymer instanton theory of electron transfer in the nonadiabatic limit
- Institut für Theoretische Physik und Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Molekulare Materialien, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Staudtstraße 7/B2, 91058 Erlangen (Germany)
We take the golden-rule instanton method derived in the previous paper [J. O. Richardson, R. Bauer, and M. Thoss, J. Chem. Phys. 143, 134115 (2015)] and reformulate it using a ring-polymer instanton approach. This gives equations which can be used to compute the rates of electron-transfer reactions in the nonadiabatic (golden-rule) limit numerically within a semiclassical approximation. The multidimensional ring-polymer instanton trajectories are obtained efficiently by minimization of the action. In this form, comparison with Wolynes’ quantum instanton method [P. G. Wolynes, J. Chem. Phys. 87, 6559 (1987)] is possible and we show that our semiclassical approach is the steepest-descent limit of this method. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of both methods and give examples of where the new approach is more accurate.
- OSTI ID:
- 22489674
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 143, Issue 13; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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