We present an investigation into the use of an explicitly correlated plane
wave basis for periodic wavefunction expansions at the level of second-order
M{\o}ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2). The convergence of the electronic
correlation energy with respect to the one-electron basis set is investigated
and compared to conventional MP2 theory in a finite homogeneous electron gas
model. In addition to the widely used Slater-type geminal correlation factor,
we also derive and investigate a novel correlation factor that we term
Yukawa-Coulomb. The Yukawa-Coulomb correlation factor is motivated by analytic
results for two electrons in a box and allows for a further improved
convergence of the correlation energies with respect to the employed basis set.
We find the combination of the infinitely delocalized plane waves and local
short-ranged geminals provides a complementary, and rapidly convergent basis
for the description of periodic wavefunctions. We hope that this approach will
expand the scope of discrete wavefunction expansions in periodic systems.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
