SPIN-ORBIT CONFIGURATION-INTERACTION STUDY OF VALENCE AND RYDBERG STATES OF LIBE

Ab initio spin-orbit full configuration-interaction calculations in the context of relativistic effective core potentials are reported for the weakly bound metal dimer LiBe, a three-valence-electron system. The effects of basis set on the energies of valence and Rydberg states of the cluster are discussed, as are the effects of configuration space selection on the energy of the latter states. Results at the dissociative limit are compared to the experimental atomic spectra. Potential-energy curves and spectroscopic constants are presented for the ground state and fourteen excited states, which includes the Li and Be 2p valence states, the Li 3s, 3p, 3d, and 4s Rydberg states, as well as three low-lying states of the molecular cation.