After having studied the LCAO method, it is assumed that the wavefunction of a single electron in a molecule can be written as a linear combination. I have two questions:
- Which electron of the atoms are we describing, only the outermost electron or?
- Molecules are comprised of atoms and these atoms have multiple electrons, how do we model multiple electrons via the LCAO method? Are the electrons assumed to be non-interacting such that each electron can be described by the LCAO method separately?
Thank you in advance for your time and effort.
With kind regards,
Jelle