On the electron affinity of the oxygen atom

The electron affinity of oxygen is computed to be 1.287 eV, at the full CI level using a 6s5p3d 2f Slater-type orbital basis and correlating only the 2p electrons. The best CASSCF-MRCI result including only 2p correlation is 1.263 eV. However, inclusion of 2s intrashell and 2s2p intershell coorelation increases the computed EA to 1.290 eV at the CASSCF-MRCI level. At the full CI basis set limit, the 2s contribution to the electron affinity is estimated to be as large as 0.1 eV. The higher excitation contribution to the electron affinity is found to increase substantially with basis set completeness, especially when the 2s electrons are correlated. Relativistic effects are shown to make a small (less than 0.01 eV) change in the EA.