Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-2/a9/a/i/solution
Past exam of the chemistry A course of the University of Cambridge 2022 Paper 2 A9 a i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
In the orthogonal nearest-neighbour tight-binding model,The on-site integral sets the band centre, while the hopping integral describes coupling between neighbouring orbitals. With a consistent phase convention, the bonding combination at the zone centre has .
For p orbitals directed along the chain, useHere every positive lobe points in the same spatial direction. Neighbouring equal-sign coefficients then bring opposite-sign facing lobes together and make the zone-centre combination antibonding; the alternating zone-boundary combination is bonding. Thus the usual axial hopping has the opposite sign to hopping. Orbital phase and the sign of one-dimensional hopping must be treated consistently; replacing only by while silently keeping the same physical hopping sign would give the wrong band ordering.
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