On the consistent definition of spin-orbit effects calculated by relativistic effective core potentials with one-electron spin-orbit operators: Comparison of spin-orbit effects for Tl, TlH, TlH₃, PbH₂, and PbH₄

The spin-orbit effects for Tl, TlH, TlH₃, PbH₂, and PbH₄ are evaluated by two-component calculations using several relativistic effective core potentials (RECP) with one-electron spin-orbit operators. The used RECPs are shape-consistent RECPs derived by Wildman et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 107, 9975 (1997)] and three sets of energy-consistent (or adjusted) RECPs published by Schwerdtfeger et al [Phys. Scr. 36, 453 (1987); J. Chem. Phys. 90, 762 (1989)], Küchle et al. [Mol. Phys. 74, 1245 (1991)], and Leininger et al. [Chem. Phys. 217, 19 (1997)]. The shape-consistent RECP results are in very good agreement with the Küchle et al. energy-consistent RECP results for all the molecules studied here and all-electron results for TlH. The RECPs of Schwerdtfeger et al. and Leininger et al. seem to provide qualitatively different spin-orbit effects. If one defines spin-free RECP as the potential average of the corresponding two-component RECP, all RECPs give very similar spin-orbit effects for all the cases. Most of the discrepancies of molecular spin-orbit effects among various RECPs reported in the literature may originate from different definitions of RECPs with or without a spin-orbit term and not from the inherent difference in spin-orbit operators.