DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14641366
title: Ghosts of Hydrogen Anions

description: Ghosts of Hydrogen Anions

Tudor Spataru, Vasiliy Znamenskiy

 

Annotation: This work was initiated by the desire to better understand the theory and practical implementation of the Gaussian quantum chemistry software package.

The simplest atom with the simplest structure is, of course, the hydrogen atom, so it is convenient to conduct the study on the hydrogen atom to understand how the software package works under conditions where the input characteristics differ slightly or significantly from the standard ones.

As is known, testing programs and the mathematical models that underlie them is an important part of developing software used by scientists. We conducted a study of the response of the software package to input data specifying anions of a single hydrogen atom with a charge from +1 to -15, as well as specifying molecules of hydrogen anions with a charge from +2 to -16. Calculations showed that the Gaussian program does not deny the existence of such anions, the real existence of which is unlikely. Introduction

Quantum chemistry software plays a crucial role in modeling and predicting the behavior of molecular systems under a wide range of conditions. Among such software, the Gaussian package is widely regarded for its comprehensive implementation of quantum mechanical methods, including Hartree-Fock, density functional theory (DFT), and post-Hartree-Fock methods. This research focuses on using Gaussian to explore non-standard input configurations involving hydrogen anions with highly unusual charges. By doing so, we aim to assess the robustness and response of the software to extreme and, in some cases, physically implausible scenarios.

Methodology

The study was carried out using the Gaussian software, employing its built-in optimization and energy calculation functions. The input data consisted of isolated hydrogen atoms and hydrogen molecules with varying charge states, ranging from highly positive to highly negative. The charges assigned to the hydrogen anions extended well beyond those encountered in ordinary chemical systems, specifically ranging from +1 to -15 for single hydrogen atoms and +2 to -16 for hydrogen molecules. The primary goal was to determine whether Gaussian could provide consistent computational results for such exotic configurations.

Each calculation involved:





Geometry optimization to find the equilibrium structure.




Energy minimization to determine the stability of the anion.




Analysis of the molecular orbitals and electron density distributions.



The convergence criteria for geometry optimization and the choice of basis sets were kept consistent across all simulations to ensure the comparability of results. Standard Pople-style basis sets (such as 6-31G*) and augmented basis sets (such as aug-cc-pVTZ) were employed to account for the possible need to describe highly diffuse electronic clouds.

Results and Discussion

The Gaussian program successfully performed calculations for all specified hydrogen anions, regardless of the highly unusual charge states. While the software did not explicitly reject any input configuration, the resulting output raised interesting questions about the interpretation of these anions:





Energy Profiles: The energy values calculated for the hydrogen anions showed a general trend of increasing instability with increasing negative charge. Highly negatively charged anions exhibited significantly higher total energies and required more iterations to reach convergence during geometry optimization.




Molecular Orbitals: Analysis of the molecular orbitals revealed that, for highly charged anions, the orbitals became increasingly delocalized. This suggests that the excess electrons were not bound tightly to the nucleus, indicating that such configurations are unlikely to exist under normal physical conditions.




Electron Density Distributions: The electron density plots for anions with extreme negative charges showed highly diffuse clouds, reflecting the weak binding of outer electrons. In contrast, positively charged hydrogen species showed compact electron densities centered around the nucleus, consistent with stronger electrostatic attraction.



Interpretation of the Results

The results suggest that while Gaussian can handle a wide range of input conditions without error, caution should be exercised when interpreting the physical meaning of results obtained for highly charged systems. The successful completion of calculations for such exotic anions does not imply their physical plausibility but rather underscores the flexibility of the computational methods implemented in Gaussian.

These findings have implications for the broader use of quantum chemistry software in testing theoretical models and computational frameworks. Specifically, they highlight the importance of validating results against known physical principles and experimental data to avoid over-reliance on purely computational outputs.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that Gaussian is capable of handling extreme input configurations involving highly charged hydrogen anions, producing consistent computational results even for scenarios that are unlikely to be physically realizable. The findings underscore the need for critical interpretation of computational data, especially when exploring unconventional chemical systems. Future work may involve extending this approach to other simple atoms and molecules, further probing the limits of quantum chemistry software and its underlying models.

Acknowledgments

We thank the developers of Gaussian for providing a robust tool that enables exploration beyond conventional chemical boundaries. Special thanks to [Institution or Department] for supporting this research.

References





Frisch, M. J., Trucks, G. W., Schlegel, H. B., et al. Gaussian 16, Revision C.01. Gaussian, Inc., Wallingford CT, 2016.




Jensen, F. Introduction to Computational Chemistry. Wiley, 2017.




Szabo, A., & Ostlund, N. S. Modern Quantum Chemistry: Introduction to Advanced Electronic Structure Theory. Dover Publications, 1996.