Coronene molecules in helium clusters: Quantum and classical studies of energies and configurations

Coronene-doped helium clusters have been studied by means of classical and quantum mechanical (QM) methods using a recently developed He-C24H12 global potential based on the use of optimized atom-bond improved Lennard-Jones functions. Equilibrium energies and geometries at global and local minima for systems with up to 69 He atoms were calculated by means of an evolutive algorithm and a basin-hopping approach and compared with results from path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) calculations at 2 K. A detailed analysis performed for the smallest sizes shows that the precise localization of the He atoms forming the first solvation layer over the molecular substrate is affected by differences between relative potential minima. The comparison of the PIMC results with the predictions from the classical approaches and with diffusion Monte Carlo results allows to examine the importance of both the QM and thermal effects.