4,150 research outputs found
A simple and efficient approach to the optimization of correlated wave functions
We present a simple and efficient method to optimize within energy
minimization the determinantal component of the many-body wave functions
commonly used in quantum Monte Carlo calculations. The approach obtains the
optimal wave function as an approximate perturbative solution of an effective
Hamiltonian iteratively constructed via Monte Carlo sampling. The effectiveness
of the method as well as its ability to substantially improve the accuracy of
quantum Monte Carlo calculations is demonstrated by optimizing a large number
of parameters for the ground state of acetone and the difficult case of the
state of hexatriene.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Perturbatively selected configuration-interaction wave functions for efficient geometry optimization in quantum Monte Carlo
We investigate the performance of a class of compact and systematically
improvable Jastrow-Slater wave functions for the efficient and accurate
computation of structural properties, where the determinantal component is
expanded with a perturbatively selected configuration interaction scheme
(CIPSI). We concurrently optimize the molecular ground-state geometry and full
wave function -- Jastrow factor, orbitals, and configuration interaction
coefficients-- in variational Monte Carlo (VMC) for the prototypical case of
1,3-trans-butadiene, a small yet theoretically challenging -conjugated
system. We find that the CIPSI selection outperforms the conventional scheme of
correlating orbitals within active spaces chosen by chemical intuition: it
gives significantly better variational and diffusion Monte Carlo energies for
all but the smallest expansions, and much smoother convergence of the geometry
with the number of determinants. In particular, the optimal bond lengths and
bond-length alternation of butadiene are converged to better than one m\AA\
with just a few thousand determinants, to values very close to the
corresponding CCSD(T) results. The combination of CIPSI expansion and VMC
optimization represents an affordable tool for the determination of accurate
ground-state geometries in quantum Monte Carlo
Excited states with selected CI-QMC: chemically accurate excitation energies and geometries
We employ quantum Monte Carlo to obtain chemically accurate vertical and
adiabatic excitation energies, and equilibrium excited-state structures for the
small, yet challenging, formaldehyde and thioformaldehyde molecules. A key
ingredient is a robust protocol to obtain balanced ground- and excited-state
Jastrow-Slater wave functions at a given geometry, and to maintain such a
balanced description as we relax the structure in the excited state. We use
determinantal components generated via a selected configuration interaction
scheme which targets the same second-order perturbation energy correction for
all states of interest at different geometries, and we fully optimize all
variational parameters in the resultant Jastrow-Slater wave functions.
Importantly, the excitation energies as well as the structural parameters in
the ground and excited states are converged with very compact wave functions
comprising few thousand determinants in a minimally augmented double-
basis set. These results are obtained already at the variational Monte Carlo
level, the more accurate diffusion Monte Carlo method yielding only a small
improvement in the adiabatic excitation energies. We find that matching
Jastrow-Slater wave functions with similar variances can yield excitations
compatible with our best estimates; however, the variance-matching procedure
requires somewhat larger determinantal expansions to achieve the same accuracy,
and it is less straightforward to adapt during structural optimization in the
excited state.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Northern European retired residents in nine southern European areas: characteristics, motivations and adjustment
During the last two decades, northern European retirement residence in the southern European sunbelt has grown strongly and its forms have rapidly changed, but standard demographic and social statistical sources provide no information about the flows, the migrants or their increasingly mobile and complex residential patterns. Considerable primary research has however recently been undertaken into the causes, conditions, experiences and consequences of international retirement migration (IRM) by investigators from Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Many collaborated when designing their studies and instruments, and all have subsequently worked together in a European Science Foundation Scientific Network.
This paper compares the findings of six systematic social surveys in (to be more precise than the title) eight regions of southern Europe and the Canary Islands: all that have tackled similar research questions with similar methods and instruments. It presents interpretations of several comparative tables compiled from their original data, with a focus on the socio-economic backgrounds, motivations and behaviour of the various migrant groups and their relationship with the host and home countries. The paper presents new findings about the typical and variant forms of IRM, and additional understanding of the heterogeneity of the retirees of different nations and in the several regions
Empowering Decision Makers to Avoid the Oversizing of Building Service Systems
Oversizing of building service systems has a direct impact on building efficiency and operational costs. The research of this paper highlights several major contributors to the issue of oversizing. A key factor is the excessive and uncoordinated application of design margins applied during the multiple stages of a building services project; others include, a lack of communication and transparency across the various stakeholder groups, and the use of vague or unreliable data upon which initial project requirements are based. The impact of these factors on system performance and cost, and how these can impede on a building's ability to meet energy efficiency targets are analysed and discussed.
The paper emphasizes the need to develop robust processes that capture the scope and rationale for the margins applied, and to communicate this knowledge in a clear and unambiguous format, to all project stakeholders. The development of flexible and alternative design solutions that apply diversity principles, such as different backup systems to provide resilience rather than the traditional ‘like-for-like’ redundancy solutions, are also explored
The Economic Consequences of Family Policies: Lessons from a Century of Legislation in High-Income Countries
We draw lessons from existing work and our own analysis on the effects of parental leave and other interventions aimed at aiding families. The outcomes of interest are female employment, gender gaps in earnings and fertility. We begin with a discussion of the historical introduction of family policies ever since the end of the nineteenth century and then turn to the details regarding family policies currently in effect across high-income nations. We sketch a framework concerning the effects of family policy to motivate our country- and micro-level evidence on the impact of family policies on gender outcomes. Most estimates of the impact of parental leave entitlement on female labor market outcomes range from negligible to weakly positive. The verdict is far more positive for the beneficial impact of spending on early education and childcar
Heavy-tailed max-linear structural equation models in networks with hidden nodes
Recursive max-linear vectors provide models for the causal dependence between
large values of observed random variables as they are supported on directed
acyclic graphs (DAGs). But the standard assumption that all nodes of such a DAG
are observed is often unrealistic. We provide necessary and sufficient
conditions that allow for a partially observed vector from a regularly varying
model to be represented as a recursive max-linear (sub-)model. Our method
relies on regular variation and the minimal representation of a recursive
max-linear vector. Here the max-weighted paths of a DAG play an essential role.
Results are based on a scaling technique and causal dependence relations
between pairs of nodes. In certain cases our method can also detect the
presence of hidden confounders. Under a two-step thresholding procedure, we
show consistency and asymptotic normality of the estimators. Finally, we study
our method by simulation, and apply it to nutrition intake data
Evidence for a constant IMF in early-type galaxies based on their X-ray binary populations
A number of recent studies have proposed that the stellar initial mass
function (IMF) of early type galaxies varies systematically as a function of
galaxy mass, with higher mass galaxies having bottom heavy IMFs. These bottom
heavy IMFs have more low-mass stars relative to the number of high mass stars,
and therefore naturally result in proportionally fewer neutron stars and black
holes. In this paper, we specifically predict the variation in the number of
black holes and neutron stars based on the power-law IMF variation required to
reproduce the observed mass-to-light ratio trends with galaxy mass. We then
test whether such variations are observed by studying the field low-mass X-ray
binary populations (LMXBs) of nearby early-type galaxies. In these binaries, a
neutron star or black hole accretes matter from a low-mass donor star. Their
number is therefore expected to scale with the number of black holes and
neutron stars present in a galaxy. We find that the number of LMXBs per K-band
light is similar among the galaxies in our sample. These data therefore
demonstrate the uniformity of the slope of the IMF from massive stars down to
those now dominating the K-band light, and are consistent with an invariant
IMF. Our results are inconsistent with an IMF which varies from a
Kroupa/Chabrier like IMF for low mass galaxies to a steep power-law IMF (with
slope =2.8) for high mass galaxies. We discuss how these observations
constrain the possible forms of the IMF variations and how future Chandra
observations can enable sharper tests of the IMF.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Ap
The crystal structure of superoxide dismutase from Plasmodium falciparum
Background: Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are important enzymes in defence against oxidative stress. In Plasmodium falciparum, they may be expected to have special significance since part of the parasite life cycle is spent in red blood cells where the formation of reactive oxygen species is likely to be promoted by the products of haemoglobin breakdown. Thus, inhibitors of P. falciparum SODs have potential as anti-malarial compounds. As a step towards their development we have determined the crystal structure of the parasite's cytosolic iron superoxide dismutase. Results: The cytosolic iron superoxide dismutase from P. falciparum (PfFeSOD) has been overexpressed in E. coli in a catalytically active form. Its crystal structure has been solved by molecular replacement and refined against data extending to 2.5 angstrom resolution. The structure reveals a two-domain organisation and an iron centre in which the metal is coordinated by three histidines, an aspartate and a solvent molecule. Consistent with ultracentrifugation analysis the enzyme is a dimer in which a hydrogen bonding lattice links the two active centres. Conclusion: The tertiary structure of PfFeSOD is very similar to those of a number of other iron-and manganese-dependent superoxide dismutases, moreover the active site residues are conserved suggesting a common mechanism of action. Comparison of the dimer interfaces of PfFeSOD with the human manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase reveals a number of differences, which may underpin the design of parasite-selective superoxide dismutase inhibitors
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