# Calculation of Vibrational Frequencies¶

In this chapter, all necessary information about the calculation of vibrational spectra and thermostatistical contributions are given.

## Performing simple Vibrational Frequency calculations¶

Vibrational frequency calculations are available only through two-sided numerical differentiation of analytical gradients.

Consider a simple example like the following hydrogen abstraction reaction:

7

C          -0.12888312425142   -0.00640246259879   -0.00997057133406
H           1.44011699709596    0.12229812355524   -0.02854203428735
H          -0.41612454870604    1.02694842152161   -0.04938812535015
H          -0.26306601703832   -0.58286887757121   -0.90445094952445
H          -0.26440375738028   -0.51708010658031    0.92386857306799
O           2.45008586500521    0.26032015001761    0.01133571198248
H           2.61210033905108    0.98358191645276    0.62026402303033


By invoking the --hess command line argument, xtb executes a calculation of the Hessian matrix. The --ohess keyword may be used instead if a prior optimization of the structure is desired.

xtb min.xyz --hess --uhf 1


At the end of the frequency job you get an output like this:

        -------------------------------------------------
|               Frequency Printout                |
-------------------------------------------------
projected vibrational frequencies (cm-1)
eigval :       -0.00    -0.00    -0.00     0.00     0.00     0.00
eigval :       40.69   211.99   360.40   405.89   601.08   759.17
eigval :      829.07  1371.91  1375.70  1477.42  2297.37  3115.69
eigval :     3190.88  3197.05  3648.64
reduced masses (amu)
1:  4.63   2: 12.19   3: 12.31   4:  9.70   5:  9.30   6: 12.74   7:  1.74   8: 12.17
9:  1.45  10:  1.77  11:  1.92  12:  1.45  13:  2.39  14:  2.02  15:  2.03  16:  2.07
17:  2.17  18:  1.07  19:  2.09  20:  2.09  21:  1.86
IR intensities (amu)
1:  0.17   2:  0.46   3:  0.44   4:  0.41   5:  0.08   6:  0.35   7:  0.48   8:  0.26
9:  0.26  10:  0.27  11:  0.25  12:  0.41  13:  0.30  14:  0.04  15:  0.07  16:  0.52
17:  0.51  18:  0.06  19:  0.14  20:  0.12  21:  0.18
Raman intensities (amu)
1:  0.00   2:  0.00   3:  0.00   4:  0.00   5:  0.00   6:  0.00   7:  0.00   8:  0.00
9:  0.00  10:  0.00  11:  0.00  12:  0.00  13:  0.00  14:  0.00  15:  0.00  16:  0.00
17:  0.00  18:  0.00  19:  0.00  20:  0.00  21:  0.00
output can be read by thermo (or use thermo option).
writing <g98.out> molden fake output.
recommended (thermochemical) frequency scaling factor: 1.0


This output consists of the calculated vibrational frequencies and the vibrational modes. In the example above there are six frequencies which are identically zero. These frequencies correspond to the rotations and translations of the molecule. They have been projected out of the Hessian before the calculation of the frequencies and thus, the zero values do not tell you anything about the quality of the Hessian that has been diagonalized.

xtb writes an g98.out file in GAUSSIAN-format, which can be opened with the popular MOLDEN program to visualize the vibrational modes. Further, a hessian file is written, containing the projected Hessian matrix in turbomole format.

## Calculation of thermochemical properties¶

Each frequency job provides the thermochemical properties at 298.15 K. (for other temperatures, see below). No further user-input is required to obtain all important thermostatistical contributions. The contributions are calculated following a coupled rigid-rotor-harmonic-oscillator approach. If a molecular symmetry is detected, the resulting rotational number is automatically accounted for. The symmetry detection can be adjusted in the $symmetry block of the xcontrol file if necessary.  ------------------------------------------------- | Thermodynamic Functions | ------------------------------------------------- ................................................... : SETUP : :.................................................: : # frequencies 15 : : # imaginary freq. 0 : : linear? false : : only rotor calc. false : : symmetry C1 : : rotational number 1 : : scaling factor 1.0000000 : : rotor cutoff 50.0000000 cm⁻¹ : : imag. cutoff -20.0000000 cm⁻¹ : :.................................................: mode ω/cm⁻¹ T·S(HO)/kcal·mol⁻¹ T·S(FR)/kcal·mol⁻¹ T·S(vib) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 40.69 -1.55795 ( 30.48%) -1.11458 ( 69.52%) -1.24972 2 211.99 -0.60419 ( 99.69%) -0.62804 ( 0.31%) -0.60426 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ temp. (K) partition function enthalpy heat capacity entropy cal/mol cal/K/mol cal/K/mol J/K/mol 298.15 VIB 13.7 1501.827 9.485 9.210 ROT 0.909E+04 888.752 2.981 21.094 INT 0.125E+06 2390.579 12.466 30.304 TR 0.184E+27 1481.254 4.968 36.401 TOT 3871.8331 17.4344 66.7050 279.0936 T/K H(0)-H(T)+PV H(T)/Eh T*S/Eh G(T)/Eh ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 298.15 0.617016E-02 0.583013E-01 0.316937E-01 0.266076E-01 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: THERMODYNAMIC :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: total free energy -8.613409150740 Eh :: ::.................................................:: :: total energy -8.640016786693 Eh :: :: zero point energy 0.052131167146 Eh :: :: G(RRHO) contrib. -0.025523531193 Eh :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  Multiple temperatures can be calculated using the build in thermodynamic functions calculator by using a input file similar to this $thermo
temp=150.0,200.0,250.0,273.15,298.15


The final summary looks like

    T/K    H(0)-H(T)+PV         H(T)/Eh          T*S/Eh         G(T)/Eh
------------------------------------------------------------------------
150.00    0.250495E-02    0.546739E-01    0.135034E-01    0.411705E-01
200.00    0.361203E-02    0.557809E-01    0.192424E-01    0.365386E-01
250.00    0.484240E-02    0.570113E-01    0.253913E-01    0.316200E-01
273.15    0.545010E-02    0.576190E-01    0.283634E-01    0.292557E-01
298.15    0.617016E-02    0.583013E-01    0.316937E-01    0.266076E-01 (used)
------------------------------------------------------------------------


xtb will always use the last entry from the temperature list for all further calculations and printouts.

## Dealing with imaginary modes and non-minimum structures¶

If a frequency calculation is invoked using the --hess command line argument, xTB automatically checks the gradient norm for a non-zero value. For unoptimized structures with significant remaining grad. norm, a warning is printed. If you want xTB to exit with an error code instead of this warning, use the --strict command line argument.

########################################################################
# WARNING! Some non-fatal runtime exceptions were caught, please check:
#  - Hessian on incompletely optimized geometry!
########################################################################


A xtbhess.coord file is created in this case, containing the input structure distorted along the imaginary mode. In case of unwanted imaginary modes, this structure can be used as a starting point to perform further optimizations to get rid of the imaginary frequency and locate the true minimum.

Of course, the calculated frequencies depend on the masses used for each atom. Several options exist to modify/scale the default atomic masses in the $hess block of the xcontrol file. $hess
sccacc=real
SCC accuracy level in Hessian runs

step=real
Cartesian displacement increment for numerical Hessian

isotope: int,real
set mass of atom number int to real (synonym to modify mass)

modify mass: int,real
set mass of atom number int to real (synonym to isotope)

scale mass: int,real
scale mass of atom number int by real

element mass: int,real
set mass of elements int to real


Changes regarding sccacc or step should be made with caution, as large displacements or loose SCC accuracy can lead to unreliable frequencies due to excessive numerical noise in the calculations.

The thermostatistical calculations can be influenced by the $thermo block of the xcontrol file. $thermo
temp=real
temperature for thermostatistical calculation (default: 298.15 K)

sthr=real
rotor cut-off (cm-1) in thermo (default: 50.0)