Dynamical Simulations of Carotenoid Photoexcited States Using Density Matrix Renormalization Group Techniques

We present a dynamical simulation scheme to model the highly correlated excited state dynamics of linear polyenes. We apply it to investigate the internal conversion processes of carotenoids following their photoexcitation. We use the extended Hubbard-Peierls model, HUVP, to describe the pi-electronic system coupled to nuclear degrees of freedom. This is supplemented by a Hamiltonian, H , that explicitly breaks both the particle-hole and two-fold rotation symmetries of idealized carotenoid structures. The electronic degrees of freedom are treated quantum mechanically by solving the time-dependent Schro''dinger equation using the adaptive time-dependent DMRG (tDMRG) method, while nuclear dynamics are treated via the Ehrenfest equations of motion. By defining adiabatic excited states as the eigenstates of the full Hamiltonian, H = HUVP + H, and diabatic excited states as eigenstates of HUVP, we present a computational framework to monitor the internal conversion process from the initial photoexcited 11Bu+ state to the singlet triplet-pair states of carotenoids. We further incorporate Lanczos-DMRG to the tDMRG-Ehrenfest method to calculate transient absorption spectra from the evolving photoexcited state. We describe in detail the accuracy and convergence criteria for DMRG, and show that this method accurately describes the dynamical processes of carotenoid excited states. We also discuss the effect of the symmetry-breaking term, H , on the internal conversion process, and show that its effect on the extent of internal conversion can be described by a Landau-Zener-type transition. This methodological paper is a companion to our more explanatory discussion of carotenoid excited state dynamics in Manawadu, D.; Georges, T. N.; Barford, W. Photoexcited State Dynamics and Singlet Fission in Carotenoids. J. Phys. Chem. A 2023, 127, 1342.

Automated summary

We propose a dynamical simulation scheme to study the excited state dynamics of linear polyenes. Using the Hubbard-Peierls model coupled with the nuclear degrees of freedom, we investigate the internal conversion processes of photoexcited carotenoids. By defining adiabatic and diabatic excited states, we present a computational framework to monitor the internal conversion process and calculate transient absorption spectra. Our results demonstrate the accuracy of our method in describing carotenoid excited state dynamics and discuss the effect of symmetry breaking on the internal conversion process.