Ab initio quantum dynamics using coupled-cluster

The curse of dimensionality (COD) limits the current state-of-the-art {\it ab initio} propagation methods for non-relativistic quantum mechanics to relatively few particles. For stationary structure calculations, the coupled-cluster (CC) method overcomes the COD in the sense that the method scales polynomially with the number of particles while still being size-consistent and extensive. We generalize the CC method to the time domain while allowing the single-particle functions to vary in an adaptive fashion as well, thereby creating a highly flexible, polynomially scaling approximation to the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. The method inherits size-consistency and extensivity from the CC method. The method is dubbed orbital-adaptive time-dependent coupled-cluster (OATDCC), and is a hierarchy of approximations to the now standard multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree method for fermions. A numerical experiment is also given.Comment: 5 figure

Systematic study of finite-size effects in quantum Monte Carlo calculations of real metallic systems

We present a systematic and comprehensive study of finite-size effects in diffusion quantum Monte Carlo calculations of metals. Several previously introduced schemes for correcting finite-size errors are compared for accuracy and efficiency, and practical improvements are introduced. In particular, we test a simple but efficient method of finite-size correction based on an accurate combination of twist averaging and density functional theory. Our diffusion quantum Monte Carlo results for lithium and aluminum, as examples of metallic systems, demonstrate excellent agreement between all of the approaches considered

Correlated electrons in Fe-As compounds: a quantum chemical perspective

State-of-the-art quantum chemical methods are applied to the study of the multiorbital correlated electronic structure of a Fe-As compound, the recently discovered LiFeAs. Our calculations predict a high-spin, S=2, ground-state configuration for the Fe ions, which shows that the on-site Coulomb interactions are substantial. Also, orbital degeneracy in the (xz,yz) sector and a three-quarter filling of these levels suggest the presence of strong fluctuations and are compatible with a low metallic conductivity in the normal state. The lowest electron-removal states have As 4p character, in analogy to the ligand hole states in p-type cuprate superconductors

Fermion NN-representability for prescribed density and paramagnetic current density

The $N$-representability problem is the problem of determining whether or not there exists $N$-particle states with some prescribed property. Here we report an affirmative solution to the fermion $N$-representability problem when both the density and paramagnetic current density are prescribed. This problem arises in current-density functional theory and is a generalization of the well-studied corresponding problem (only the density prescribed) in density functional theory. Given any density and paramagnetic current density satisfying a minimal regularity condition (essentially that a von Weiz\"acker-like the canonical kinetic energy density is locally integrable), we prove that there exist a corresponding $N$-particle state. We prove this by constructing an explicit one-particle reduced density matrix in the form of a position-space kernel, i.e.\ a function of two continuous position variables. In order to make minimal assumptions, we also address mathematical subtleties regarding the diagonal of, and how to rigorously extract paramagnetic current densities from, one-particle reduced density matrices in kernel form

A Mean Field Platform for Excited State Quantum Chemistry

We present a mean field theory for excited states that is broadly analogous to ground state Hartree-Fock theory. Like Hartree-Fock, our approach is deterministic, state-specific, applies a variational principle to a minimally correlated ansatz, produces energy stationary points, relaxes the orbital basis, has a Fock-build cost-scaling, and can serve as the foundation for correlation methods such as perturbation theory and coupled cluster theory. To emphasize this last point, we pair our mean field approach with an excited state analogue of second order Moller-Plesset theory and demonstrate that in water, formaldehyde, neon, and stretched lithium fluoride, the resulting accuracy far exceeds that of configuration interaction singles and rivals that of equation of motion coupled cluster.Comment: 6 page

Resolving the notorious case of conical intersections for coupled cluster dynamics

The motion of electrons and nuclei in photochemical events often involve conical intersections, degeneracies between electronic states. They serve as funnels for nuclear relaxation - on the femtosecond scale - in processes where the electrons and nuclei couple nonadiabatically. Accurate ab initio quantum chemical models are essential for interpreting experimental measurements of such phenomena. In this paper we resolve a long-standing problem in coupled cluster theory, presenting the first formulation of the theory that correctly describes conical intersections between excited electronic states of the same symmetry. This new development demonstrates that the highly accurate coupled cluster theory can be applied to describe dynamics on excited electronic states involving conical intersections.Comment: 8 pages and 3 figures and including supporting information (with corrections and improved notation

Alternative separation of exchange and correlation energies in multi-configuration range-separated density-functional theory

The alternative separation of exchange and correlation energies proposed by Toulouse et al. [Theor. Chem. Acc. 114, 305 (2005)] is explored in the context of multi-configuration range-separated density-functional theory. The new decomposition of the short-range exchange-correlation energy relies on the auxiliary long-range interacting wavefunction rather than the Kohn-Sham (KS) determinant. The advantage, relative to the traditional KS decomposition, is that the wavefunction part of the energy is now computed with the regular (fully-interacting) Hamiltonian. One potential drawback is that, because of double counting, the wavefunction used to compute the energy cannot be obtained by minimizing the energy expression with respect to the wavefunction parameters. The problem is overcome by using short-range optimized effective potentials (OEPs). The resulting combination of OEP techniques with wavefunction theory has been investigated in this work, at the Hartree-Fock (HF) and multi-configuration self-consistent-field (MCSCF) levels. In the HF case, an analytical expression for the energy gradient has been derived and implemented. Calculations have been performed within the short-range local density approximation on H2, N2, Li2 and H2O. Significant improvements in binding energies are obtained with the new decomposition of the short-range energy. The importance of optimizing the short-range OEP at the MCSCF level when static correlation becomes significant has also been demonstrated for H2, using a finite-difference gradient. The implementation of the analytical gradient for MCSCF wavefunctions is currently in progress.Comment: 5 figure

On the evaluation of derivatives of Gaussian integrals

We show that by a suitable change of variables, the derivatives of molecular integrals over Gaussian-type functions required for analytic energy derivatives can be evaluated with significantly less computational effort than current formulations. The reduction in effort increases with the order of differentiation

Implementation of analytical Hartree-Fock gradients for periodic systems

We describe the implementation of analytical Hartree-Fock gradients for periodic systems in the code CRYSTAL, emphasizing the technical aspects of this task. The code is now capable of calculating analytical derivatives with respect to nuclear coordinates for systems periodic in 0, 1, 2 and 3 dimensions (i.e. molecules, polymers, slabs and solids). Both closed-shell restricted and unrestricted Hartree-Fock gradients have been implemented. A comparison with numerical derivatives shows that the forces are highly accurate.Comment: accepted by Comp. Phys. Com