Accurate a b i n i t i o potential curves for the Xg, Au, a 4Σ−u, and 2Σ−u states of the 0−2 ion

Abstract
Ab initio potential energy curves and spectrocopic constants of the X 2Πg, A 2Πu, a 4Σu and 2Σu of the negative ion of molecular oxygen (02), of major interest in the upper atmosphere, are presented in a sequence of increasing computational sophistication. The unique features of the correlation problem for homonuclear ions are analyzed in detail. The most accurate 76‐configuration MCSCF ground X 2Πg state results are examined and found (as expected) to be in excellent agreement with experiment. The most accurate A 2Πu excited state results (also involving a 76‐configuration MCSCF wavefunction) are expected to be of comparable accuracy, while somewhat less accuracy is expected for the best calculations of the 4Σu and 2Σu states (64 and 65 configurations used, respectively).