3,986 research outputs found
Modelling excited states of weakly bound complexes with density functional theory
The binding within the ethene-argon and formaldehyde-methane complexes in the ground and electronically excited states is studied with equation of motion coupled cluster theory (EOM-CCSD), second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) and density functional theory with dispersion corrections (DFT-D). Electronically excited states are studied within MP2 and Kohn-Sham DFT formalisms by exploiting a procedure called the maximum overlap method that allows convergence of the relevant self-consistent field equations to higher energy (or excited state) solutions. Potential energy curves computed using MP2 are in good agreement with the EOM- CCSD calculations for both the valence and Rydberg excited states studied. For the DFT-D approach, B3LYP-D3/aug-cc-pVTZ calculations are found to be in agreement with EOM-CCSD for the ground and valence excited states. However, for the π3s Rydberg state of ethene-argon and the n3s Rydberg state of formaldehyde-methane significant deviation is observed, and this disagreement with EOM-CCSD is present for a variety of DFT-D based approaches. Variation of the parameters within the D2 dispersion correction results in closer agreement with EOM-CCSD for the Rydberg states but demonstrates that a different parameterisation from the ground state is required for these states. This indicates that time-dependent density functional theory calculations based upon a DFT-D reference may be satisfactory for excitations to valence states, but will potentially be inaccurate for excitations to Rydberg states, or more generally states were the nature of the electron density is significantly different from the ground state
Performance of ab initio and density functional methods for conformational equilibria of CnH2n+2 alkane isomers (n=2-8)
Conformational energies of n-butane, n-pentane, and n-hexane have been
calculated at the CCSD(T) level and at or near the basis set limit.
Post-CCSD(T) contribution were considered and found to be unimportant. The data
thus obtained were used to assess the performance of a variety of density
functional methods. Double-hybrid functionals like B2GP-PLYP and B2K-PLYP,
especially with a small Grimme-type empirical dispersion correction, are
capable of rendering conformational energies of CCSD(T) quality. These were
then used as a `secondary standard' for a larger sample of alkanes, including
isopentane and the branched hexanes as well as key isomers of heptane and
octane. Popular DFT functionals like B3LYP, B3PW91, BLYP, PBE, and PBE0 tend to
overestimate conformer energies without dispersion correction, while the M06
family severely underestimates GG interaction energies. Grimme-type dispersion
corrections for these overcorrect and lead to qualitatively wrong conformer
orderings. All of these functionals also exhibit deficiencies in the conformer
geometries, particularly the backbone torsion angles. The PW6B95 and, to a
lesser extent, BMK functionals are relatively free of these deficiencies.
Performance of these methods is further investigated to derive conformer
ensemble corrections to the enthalpy function, , and the Gibbs
energy function, , of these alkanes. While
is only moderately sensitive to the level of theory, exhibits more pronounced sensitivity. Once again, double hybrids
acquit themselves very well.Comment: J. Phys. Chem. A, revised [Walter Thiel festschrift
Negotiation-based Choreography of Data-intensive Applications in the C3Grid Project
We present a negotiation and agreement strategy and protocol for the efficient scheduling of data intensive jobs in the Grid. It was developed with the background of the Collaborative Climate Community Data and Processing Grid (C3Grid), which provides a comprehensive infrastructure for solving computational problems in Earth System Science. The presented solution is a subset of the overall C3Grid architecture and especially focuses on the collaboration of Data Management and Workflow Scheduling. We evaluate our approach on a case study representing a complex application typical for climate research. Finally, extensions for future work – especially on standardization efforts – are reviewed
Accurate Treatment of Large Supramolecular Complexes by Double-Hybrid Density Functionals Coupled with Nonlocal van der Waals Corrections
In this work, we present a thorough assessment of the performance of some representative double-hybrid density functionals (revPBE0-DH-NL and B2PLYP-NL) as well as their parent hybrid and GGA counterparts, in combination with the most modern version of the nonlocal (NL) van der Waals correction to describe very large weakly interacting molecular systems dominated by noncovalent interactions. Prior to the assessment, an accurate and homogeneous set of reference interaction energies was computed for the supramolecular complexes constituting the L7 and S12L data sets by using the novel, precise, and efficient DLPNO-CCSD(T) method at the complete basis set limit (CBS). The correction of the basis set superposition error and the inclusion of the deformation energies (for the S12L set) have been crucial for obtaining precise DLPNO-CCSD(T)/CBS interaction energies. Among the density functionals evaluated, the double-hybrid revPBE0-DH-NL and B2PLYP-NL with the three-body dispersion correction provide remarkably accurate association energies very close to the chemical accuracy. Overall, the NL van der Waals approach combined with proper density functionals can be seen as an accurate and affordable computational tool for the modeling of large weakly bonded supramolecular systems.Financial support by the “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” (MINECO) of Spain and European FEDER funds through projects CTQ2011-27253 and CTQ2012-31914 is acknowledged. The support of the Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo/2012/053) is also acknowledged. J.A. thanks the EU for the FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF-329513 grant. J.C. acknowledges the “Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte” (MECD) of Spain for a predoctoral FPU grant
Elastic and vibrational properties of alpha and beta-PbO
The structure, electronic and dynamic properties of the two layered alpha
(litharge) and beta (massicot) phases of PbO have been studied by density
functional methods. The role of London dispersion interactions as leading
component of the total interaction energy between layers has been addressed by
using the Grimme's approach, in which new parameters for Pb and O atoms have
been developed. Both gradient corrected and hybrid functionals have been
adopted using Gaussian-type basis sets of polarized triple zeta quality for O
atoms and small core pseudo-potential for the Pb atoms. Basis set superposition
error (BSSE) has been accounted for by the Boys-Bernardi correction to compute
the interlayer separation. Cross check with calculations adopting plane waves
that are BSSE free have also been performed for both structures and vibrational
frequencies. With the new set of proposed Grimme's type parameters structures
and dynamical parameters for both PbO phases are in good agreement with
experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Acid-Catalyzed Rearrangements of 3-Aryloxirane-2-Carboxamides: Novel DFT Mechanistic Insights
Efficient synthesis of 3-arylquinolin-2(1H)-ones and N-(2-carboxyaryl)-oxalamides from protic acid-catalyzed rearrangements of 3-aryloxirane-2-carboxamides was achieved recently but not well understood. In contrast to the classical Meinwald rearrangement, extensive DFT calculations reveal that the proximal aryl and amide groups have strong synergetic effects to control the amide-aided and aryl-directed oxirane-opening and further rearrangement sequences. The ortho-nitro substituent of the proximal aryl is directly involved in a nucleophilic oxirane ring-opening, the amide C=O is an important proton shuttle for facile H-shifts, while the N-aryl may act as a potential ring-closing site via Friedel-Crafts alkylation. The mechanistic insights are useful for rational design of novel synthesis by changing the aryl and amide functional groups proximal to the oxirane ring
Glycolaldehyde formation via the dimerization of the formyl radical
Glycolaldehyde, the simplest monosaccharide sugar, has recently been detected in low- and high-mass star-forming cores. Following our previous investigation into glycolaldehyde formation, we now consider a further mechanism for the formation of glycolaldehyde that involves the dimerization of the formyl radical, HCO. Quantum mechanical investigation of the HCO dimerization process upon an ice surface is predicted to be barrierless and therefore fast. In an astrophysical context, we show that this mechanism can be very efficient in star-forming cores. It is limited by the availability of the formyl radical, but models suggest that only very small amounts of CO are required to be converted to HCO to meet the observational constraints
First Order Static Excitation Potential: Scheme for Excitation Energies and Transition Moments
We present an approximation scheme for the calculation of the principal
excitation energies and transition moments of finite many-body systems. The
scheme is derived from a first order approximation to the self energy of a
recently proposed extended particle-hole Green's function. A hermitian
eigenvalue problem is encountered of the same size as the well-known Random
Phase Approximation (RPA). We find that it yields a size consistent description
of the excitation properties and removes an inconsistent treatment of the
ground state correlation by the RPA. By presenting a hermitian eigenvalue
problem the new scheme avoids the instabilities of the RPA and should be well
suited for large scale numerical calculations. These and additional properties
of the new approximation scheme are illuminated by a very simple exactly
solvable model.Comment: 15 pages revtex, 1 eps figure included, corrections in Eq. (A1) and
Sec. II
Modeling interstellar amorphous solid water grains by tight-binding based methods: comparison between GFN-XTB and CCSD(T) results for water clusters
One believed path to Interstellar Complexes Organic Molecules (iCOMs)
formation inside the Interstellar Medium (ISM) is through chemical
recombination at the surface of amorphous solid water (ASW) mantle covering the
silicate-based core of the interstellar grains. The study of these iCOMs
formation and their binding energy to the ASW, using computational chemistry,
depends strongly on the ASW models used, as different models may exhibit sites
with different adsorbing features. ASW extended models are rare in the
literature because large sizes require very large computational resources when
quantum mechanical methods based on DFT are used. To circumvent this problem,
we propose to use the newly developed GFN-xTB Semi-empirical Quantum Mechanical
(SQM) methods from the Grimme's group. These methods are, at least, two orders
of magnitude faster than conventional DFT, only require modest central memory,
and in this paper we aim to benchmark their accuracy against rigorous and
resource hungry quantum mechanical methods. We focused on 38 water structures
studied by MP2 and CCSD(T) approaches comparing energetic and structures with
three levels of GFN-xTB parametrization (GFN0, GFN1, GFN2) methods. The
extremely good results obtained at the very cheap GFN-xTB level for both water
cluster structures and energetic paved the way towards the modeling of very
large AWS models of astrochemical interest.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to LNCS (Springer) ICCSA202
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