Can We Solve for the Wave Function of Water?

[rodsika]

Whats the use of solving for the wave function of water? Or is it not solvable at all?

 

[dextercioby]

The water molecule is a multiparticle system (3 nuclei whose internal structure can be discarded and 10 electrons). 13 particles mean that a complete knowledge of the molecule's state vector is unknown.

 

[A. Neumaier]

The water molecule is a multiparticle system (3 nuclei whose internal structure can be discarded and 10 electrons). 13 particles mean that a complete knowledge of the molecule's state vector is unknown.

This is too simplified.

Water is typically treated in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Given the positions of the centers of the three nuclei, any decent quantum chemistry package computes the ground state electron wave function (in a post Hartree-Fock approximation) and the first (and sometimes second) derivatives with respect to these positions. By interpolation, one can get good approximations to the potential energy surface of the atoms. The latter is used to compute the nuclear ground state. Combined one gets a complete (though of course approximate) wave function for the ground state of a water molecule.

In this way, one can predict bond lengths and angles of a water molecule.

 

[alxm]

Lots of things, you can for instance use it http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2614(02)00890-4" and find stuff out.