Аннотация:This chapter is conceived as a combination of two complementary parts. In
the first part, we discuss (largely qualitatively) the relations between the resonance
valence bond (RVB) and tight-binding/linear combination of atomic
orbitals (LCAO) pictures of the electronic structure using the archetypal
example: the π-system of benzene well known to chemists – the principal
readers of this volume. The substance of the differences between the two is
rarely clearly recognized, although the divergence between them in “molecular”
quantum chemistry is well appreciated even as potentially reaching the
degree of a “never-ending rivalry” [1]. The second more formal, more physical,
and more solid-state part is devoted to extensions of the RVB ideas to
solids. This requires a modification of the single determinant form of the
electronic wave function based on the tight-binding/LCAO scheme characteristic
for solids to enable it to model RVB states. We exemplify these issues
by several simple models ranging from the one-dimensional polyene chain:
an infinite extension of benzene (hexatriene) molecule – through graphene
and finish by probably the most spectacular example of the enigmatic quantum
RVB state of copper(II) carbodiimide (CuNCN) – a new material, where
an assumption of the RVB character of its electronic phases was crucial for
explaining its room- and low-temperature physics. The possibility of the RVB
phase/state of high-Tc cuprate superconductors is also briefly discussed.