Slave-boson approach to the size-dependent transition from van der Waals to covalent bonding in Hg_n clusters
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We use a microscopic theory to describe the dynamics of the valence electrons in divalent-metal clusters. The theory is based on a many-body model Harniltonian H which takes into account, on the same electronic level, the van der Waals and the covalent bonding. In order to study the ground-state properties of H we have developed an extended slave-boson method. We have studied the bonding character and the degree of electronic delocalization in Hg_n clusters as a function of cluster size. Results show that, for increasing cluster size, an abrupt change occurs in the bond character from van der Waals to covalent bonding at a critical cluster size n_c ~ 10-20. This change also involves a transition from localized to delocalized valence electrons, as a consequence of the competition between both bonding mechanisms.
@article{urn:nbn:de:hebis:34-2008070822628, author ={Garcia, Martin E. and Bennemann, K. H.}, title ={Slave-boson approach to the size-dependent transition from van der Waals to covalent bonding in Hg_n clusters}, copyright ={https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/}, language ={en}, year ={1994} }