Finite size scaling for the Schr\"{o}dinger equation is a systematic approach
to calculate the quantum critical parameters for a given Hamiltonian. This
approach has been shown to give very accurate results for critical parameters
by using a systematic expansion with global basis-type functions. Recently, the
finite element method was shown to be a powerful numerical method for ab initio
electronic structure calculations with a variable real-space resolution. In
this work, we demonstrate how to obtain quantum critical parameters by
combining the finite element method (FEM) with finite size scaling (FSS) using
different ab initio approximations and exact formulations. The critical
parameters could be atomic nuclear charges, internuclear distances, electron
density, disorder, lattice structure, and external fields for stability of
atomic, molecular systems and quantum phase transitions of extended systems. To
illustrate the effectiveness of this approach we provide detailed calculations
of applying FEM to approximate solutions for the two-electron atom with varying
nuclear charge; these include Hartree-Fock, density functional theory under the
local density approximation, and an "exact"' formulation using FEM. We then use
the FSS approach to determine its critical nuclear charge for stability; here,
the size of the system is related to the number of elements used in the
calculations. Results prove to be in good agreement with previous Slater-basis
set calculations and demonstrate that it is possible to combine finite size
scaling with the finite-element method by using ab initio calculations to
obtain quantum critical parameters. The combined approach provides a promising
first-principles approach to describe quantum phase transitions for materials
and extended systems.Comment: 15 pages, 19 figures, revision based on suggestions by referee,
accepted in Phys. Rev.