On Corrections to the Born-Oppenheimer Approximation

Abstract: This report presents a new approach for treating the coupling of electrons and nuclei in quantum mechanical calculations for molecules and condensed matter. It includes the standard "Born-Oppenheimer approximation" as a special case but treats both adiabatic and non-adiabatic corrections using perturbation theory. The adiabatic corrections include all terms that do not explicitly involve the nuclear wavefunctions, so that the nuclei move on a single electronic potential surface. The non-adiabatic corrections, which allow the nuclei to move on more than one potential surface, include coupling between the electronic and nuclear wavefunctions. The method is related to an approach first proposed by Born and Huang, but it differs in the methodology and in the definition of the electronic wavefunctions and potential surfaces. A simple example is worked out to illustrate the mechanics of the technique. The report also includes a review of previous work.