Fig. 1: Structure of hydrogen-bond environments.
From: Structural independence of hydrogen-bond symmetrisation dynamics at extreme pressure conditions
Schematic representation of the local hydrogen-bond environments with the hydrogen atom at the center. The energy potential of the H-bond (green graph) is determined predominantly by the nearest-neighbour atoms (e.g. oxygen atoms). Depending on initial O-O distances, hydrogen probability distributions, ∣Ψ(x)∣2, (purple schematic graph) may exhibit uni- or bi-modal characteristics. Shown here is a typical broad energy potential without barrier, leading to an uni-modal probability distribution and thermally activated hydrogen mobility. Next-nearest-neighbours may constitute metal anions, e.g., in hydrous minerals, or other hydrogen atoms in H2O ice-VII/X.
