Atomistic Modeling of Vibrational Action Spectra in Polyatomic Molecules: Nuclear Quantum Effects

The response of a polyatonaic molecule to an infrared (IR) laser pulse of varying frequency has been simulated by classical molecular dynamics simulations and by quantum methods based on the path-integral framework (PIMD), as well as quantum thermal baths (QTBs). The outcome of the trajectories was subsequently processed to predict a dissociation spectrum, from the precalculated rate constant. Naphthalene described by a tight-binding potential energy surface was chosen as a testing ground for the present problem, possibly emitting an hydrogen atom after a 12 ps long pulse. At low field intensities, the heating efficiency of the pulse is found to vary similarly as the IR absorption spectrum for all methods considered, reflecting the validity of linear response in this regime. At fields that are sufficiently high to induce statistical dissociation over mass spectrometry timescales, marked differences appear with the spectral features exhibiting additional broadenings and redshift, especially for quantum mechanical descriptions of nuclear motion. Those excessive broadenings are mostly caused by anharmonicities but also convey the inherent approximations of the semidassical QTB method and point at limitations of the PIMD simulations when used in such strong out-of-equilibrium conditions.