Molecular hydrogen dimer, ($H_2)_2$ is a weakly bound van der Waals complex. The configuration of two hydrogen molecules and the potential well structure of the dimer have been the subjects of various studies among chemists and astrophysicists. In thi...
Molecular hydrogen dimer, ($H_2)_2$ is a weakly bound van der Waals complex. The configuration of two hydrogen molecules and the potential well structure of the dimer have been the subjects of various studies among chemists and astrophysicists. In this study, we used DFT, MCG2, and MCG3 methods to determine the structure and energy of the molecular hydrogen dimer. We compared the results with previously reported ab initio method results. The ab initio results were also recalculated for comparison. All optimized geometries obtained from the MP2 and DFT methods are T-shaped. The H-H bond lengths for the dimer are almost the same as those of monomer. The center-to-center distance depeds on the levels of theory and the size of the basis sets. The bond lengths of the $H_2$ molecule from the MCG2 and MCG3 methods are shown to be in excellent agreement with the experimental value. The geometry of optimized dimer is T-shaped, and the well depths for the dimerization potential are very small, being 23 $cm-^1$ and 27 $cm-^1$ at the MCG2 and MCG3 levels, respectively. In general the MP2 level of theory predicts stronger van der Waals than the DFT, and agrees better with the MCG2 and MCG3 theories.