  Ab initio perturbed ion plus polarization calculations are reported for
doubly-charged nonstoichiometric (MgO)nMg2+ (n=1-29) cluster ions. We consider
a large number of isomers with full relaxations of the geometries, and add the
correlation correction to the Hartree-Fock energies for all cluster sizes. The
polarization contribution is included at a semiempirical level also for all
cluster sizes. Comparison is made with theoretical results for neutral (MgO)n
clusters and singly-charged alkali-halide cluster ions. Our method is also
compared to phenomenological pair potential models in order to asses their
reliability for calculations on small ionic systems. The large
coordination-dependent polarizabilities of oxide anions favor the formation of
surface sites, and thus bulklike structures begin to dominate only after n=24.
The relative stabilities of the cluster ions against evaporation of a MgO
molecule show variations that are in excellent agreement with the experimental
abundance spectra.
