Abstract
A general formulation of the alternant molecular orbital method, applicable to states of different multiplicities in systems with an even number of atoms, is presented. The treatment is formulated in such a way that the same integral sums appear in the energy expression for the states belonging to different multiplicities. The resultant energy expressions show a simple dependence on the mixing parameter λ. Application to cyclic systems shows that the best λ values decrease slowly with increasing multiplicity. Comparison with the configuration interaction treatment reveals that the AMO method corresponds to a restricted CI treatment, but it is capable of yielding a considerable part of the energy improvement obtained by the latter method.