Excited-state calculations with quantum Monte Carlo

Quantum Monte Carlo methods are first-principle approaches that approximately solve the Schr\"odinger equation stochastically. As compared to traditional quantum chemistry methods, they offer important advantages such as the ability to handle a large variety of many-body wave functions, the favorable scaling with the number of particles, and the intrinsic parallelism of the algorithms which are particularly suitable to modern massively parallel computers. In this chapter, we focus on the two quantum Monte Carlo approaches most widely used for electronic structure problems, namely, the variational and diffusion Monte Carlo methods. We give particular attention to the recent progress in the techniques for the optimization of the wave function, a challenging and important step to achieve accurate results in both the ground and the excited state. We conclude with an overview of the current status of excited-state calculations for molecular systems, demonstrating the potential of quantum Monte Carlo methods in this field of applications

Comparison of quantum Monte Carlo with time-dependent and static density-functional theory calculations of diamondoid excitation energies and Stokes shifts

We compute the absorption and emission energies and hence Stokes shifts of small diamondoids as a function of size using different theoretical approaches, including density-functional theory (DFT) and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations. The absorption spectra of these molecules are also investigated by time-dependent DFT and compared with experiment. We analyze the structural distortion and formation of a self-trapped exciton in the excited state, and we study the effects of these on the Stokes shift as a function of size. Compared to recent experiments, QMC overestimates the excitation energies by about 0.8(1) eV on average. Benefiting from a cancellation of errors, the optical gaps obtained in DFT calculations with the B3LYP functional are in better agreement with experiment. It is also shown that time-dependent B3LYP calculations can reproduce most of the features found in the experimental spectra. According to our calculations, the structures of diamondoids in the excited state show a distortion which is hardly noticeable compared to that found for methane. As the number of diamond cages is increased, the distortion mechanism abruptly changes character. We have shown that the Stokes shift is size dependent and decreases with the number of diamond cages. If we neglect orbital symmetry effects on the optical excitations, the rate of decrease in the Stokes shift is, on average, 0.1 eV per cage for small diamondoids

Localization of electrons and magnetization in fluoro-graphene: A DFT+ U study

peer reviewe

Engineering energy gap of the carbon saturated nanowire and investigation of ammonia molecule doping effects by using initial calculations (Ab initio).

In this paper size effects, growth orientation and also doping by Ammonia molecule (NH3) on the carbon nanowire properties with saturated diamond structure by (DNw:H) have been investigated. This study was carried out using DFT theory and Kohn-Sham equation by self-consistent field (SCF) that performed by local density approximation (LDA). The nanowires morphology is cylindrical with [111] growth orientation and their lateral surface was saturated by hydrogen atoms. The results show that band gap of these nanowires is smaller to bulk diamond due to high surface to volume ratio and formation surface level. The results of ammonia molecule doping with carbon surface atoms at saturated diamond nanowire in [100] orientation lead to decrease in band gap until nanowire converted into a n-type semiconductor. &nbsp