A new implementation of four-component relativistic density functional method for heavy-atom polyatomic systems

Frozen-Density Embedding for Including Environmental Effects in the Dirac-Kohn-Sham Theory: An Implementation Based on Density Fitting and Prototyping Techniques

Frozen density embedding (FDE) represents an embedding scheme in which environmental effects are included from first-principles calculations by considering the surrounding system explicitly by means of its electron density. In the present paper, we extend the full four-component relativistic Dirac-Kohn-Sham (DKS) method, as implemented in the BERTHA code, to include environmental and confinement effects with the FDE scheme (DKS-in-DFT FDE). The implementation, based on the auxiliary density fitting techniques, has been enormously facilitated by BERTHA's python API (PyBERTHA), which facilitates the interoperability with other FDE implementations available through the PyADF framework. The accuracy and numerical stability of this new implementation, also using different auxiliary fitting basis sets, has been demonstrated on the simple NH₃-H₂O system, in comparison with a reference nonrelativistic implementation. The computational performance has been evaluated on a series of gold clusters (Au_n, with n = 2, 4, 8) embedded into an increasing number of water molecules (5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 water molecules). We found that the procedure scales approximately linearly both with the size of the frozen surrounding environment (consistent with the underpinnings of the FDE approach) and with the size of the active system (in line with the use of density fitting). Finally, we applied the code to a series of heavy (Rn) and super-heavy elements (Cn, Fl, Og) embedded in a C₆₀ cage to explore the confinement effect induced by C₆₀ on their electronic structure. We compare the results from our simulations, with respect to more-approximate models employed in the atomic physics literature. Our results indicate that the specific interactions described by FDE are able to improve upon the cruder approximations currently employed, and, thus, they provide a basis from which to generate more-realistic radial potentials for confined atoms.

Atomic Mean-Field Approach within Exact Two-Component Theory Based on the Dirac-Coulomb-Breit Hamiltonian

An extension of the exact two-component theory with atomic mean-field integrals (the X2CAMF scheme) to the treatment of the Breit term together with efficient implementation using an atomic Dirac-Coulomb-Breit Hartree-Fock program is reported. The accuracy of the X2CAMF scheme for treating the contributions from the Breit term to the molecular properties is demonstrated using benchmark calculations of equilibrium bond lengths, harmonic frequencies, and dipole moments for molecules containing elements across the periodic table. Calculations of the properties for molecules containing period four elements aiming at high accuracy as well as for Th- and U-containing molecules are also presented and compared with experimental results to demonstrate the usefulness of the X2CAMF scheme in combination with accurate treatments of electron correlation by the coupled-cluster (CC) methods. The combination of CC methods and the X2CAMF scheme shows potential to extend the accuracy of CC calculations to heavy elements, e.g., to computational heavy-element thermochemistry.

Stochastic evaluation of four-component relativistic second-order many-body perturbation energies: A potentially quadratic-scaling correlation method

A second-order many-body perturbation correction to the relativistic Dirac-Hartree-Fock energy is evaluated stochastically by integrating 13-dimensional products of four-component spinors and Coulomb potentials. The integration in the real space of electron coordinates is carried out by the Monte Carlo (MC) method with the Metropolis sampling, whereas the MC integration in the imaginary-time domain is performed by the inverse-CDF (cumulative distribution function) method. The computational cost to reach a given relative statistical error for spatially compact but heavy molecules is observed to be no worse than cubic and possibly quadratic with the number of electrons or basis functions. This is a vast improvement over the quintic scaling of the conventional, deterministic second-order many-body perturbation method. The algorithm is also easily and efficiently parallelized with demonstrated 92% strong scalability going from 64 to 4096 processors for a fixed job size.

Calculation of the Zeeman Effect for Transition-Metal Complexes by Multiconfiguration Pair-Density Functional Theory

Spin-orbit coupling is especially critical for the description of magnetic anisotropy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of inorganic radicals and transition-metal complexes, and intersystem crossing. Here, we show how spin-orbit coupling may be included in multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory (MC-PDFT), and we apply the resulting formulation to the calculation of magnetic g tensors (which govern the Zeeman effect) of molecules containing transition metals. MC-PDFT is an efficient method for including static and dynamic electronic correlation in the quantum mechanical treatment of molecules; here, we apply it with spin-orbit coupling by using complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and complete active space configuration interaction (CASCI) wave functions and on-top density functionals. We propose a systematic CASCI scheme for the g tensor calculation of the ground state of the systems under consideration, and we show its superiority over the conventional CASSCF scheme. State interaction, which is important for degenerate and nearly degenerate states, is included by extended multi-state PDFT (XMS-PDFT). Applications are reported for the ground doublet states of 25 transition-metal complexes with d¹, d⁵, d⁷, and d⁹ configurations. The MC-PDFT methods are shown to be both efficient and accurate as compared with complete active space second-order perturbation theory.

Fully relativistic pseudopotential formalism under an atomic orbital basis: spin-orbit splittings and magnetic anisotropies

We present an efficient implementation of the spin-orbit coupling within the density functional theory based SIESTA code (2002 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 14 2745) using the fully relativistic and totally separable pseudopotential formalism of Hemstreet et al (1993 Phys. Rev. B 47 4238). First, we obtain the spin-orbit splittings for several systems ranging from isolated atoms to bulk metals and semiconductors as well as the Au(111) surface state. Next, and after extensive tests on the accuracy of the formalism, we also demonstrate its capability to yield reliable values for the magnetic anisotropy energy in magnetic systems. In particular, we focus on the L1(0) binary alloys and on two large molecules: Mn(6)O(2)(H -sao)(6)(O(2)CH)(2)(CH(3)OH)(4) and Co(4)(hmp)(4)(CH(3)OH)(4)Cl(4). In all cases our calculated anisotropies are in good agreement with those obtained with full-potential methods, despite the latter being, in general, computationally more demanding.

RECENT ADVANCES IN ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE THEORY

Accurate quantum computational chemistry has evolved dramatically. The size of molecular systems, which can be studied accurately using molecular theory is increasing very rapidly. Theoretical chemistry has opened up a world of new possibilities. It can treat real systems with predictable accuracy. Computational chemistry is becoming an integral part of chemistry research. Theory can now make very significant contribution to chemistry.

This review will focus on our recent developments in the theoretical and computational methodology for the study of molecular structure and molecular interactions. We are aiming at developing accurate molecular theory on systems containing hundreds of atoms. We continue our research in the following three directions: (i) development of new ab initio theory, particularly multireference-based perturbation theory, (ii) development of exchange and correlation functionals in density functional theory, and (iii) development of molecular theory including relativistic effects.

We have enjoyed good progress in each of the above areas. We are very excited about our discoveries of new theory and new algorithms and would like to share this enthusiasm with readers.

The Beijing Density Functional (BDF) Program Package: Methodologies and Applications

The Beijing Density Functional (BDF) program package is such a code that can perform nonrelativistic, one-, two-, and four-component relativistic density functional calculations on medium-sized molecular systems with various functionals in most compact and yet sufficient basis set expansions. The mergence of different approaches in a single code facilitates direct and systematic comparisons between different Hamiltonians, since they share all the same numerical and technical issues. In this account, the methodologies adopted in the code will be discussed in great detail and some applications of the code will be briefly presented.

Linear scaling computation of the Fock matrix. VII. Periodic density functional theory at the Gamma point

Linear scaling quantum chemical methods for density functional theory are extended to the condensed phase at the Gamma point. For the two-electron Coulomb matrix, this is achieved with a tree-code algorithm for fast Coulomb summation [M. Challacombe and E. Schwegler, J. Chem. Phys. 106, 5526 (1997)], together with multipole representation of the crystal field [M. Challacombe, C. White, and M. Head-Gordon, J. Chem. Phys. 107, 10131 (1997)]. A periodic version of the hierarchical cubature algorithm [M. Challacombe, J. Chem. Phys. 113, 10037 (2000)], which builds a telescoping adaptive grid for numerical integration of the exchange-correlation matrix, is shown to be efficient when the problem is posed as integration over the unit cell. Commonalities between the Coulomb and exchange-correlation algorithms are discussed, with an emphasis on achieving linear scaling through the use of modern data structures. With these developments, convergence of the Gamma-point supercell approximation to the k-space integration limit is demonstrated for MgO and NaCl. Linear scaling construction of the Fockian and control of error is demonstrated for RBLYP6-21G* diamond up to 512 atoms.

Electron density fitting for the Coulomb problem in relativistic density-functional theory

A density fitting approach for the Coulomb matrix representation within the four-component formulation of relativistic density-functional theory is presented. Our implementation, which uses G-spinor basis sets, shares all the advantages of those found in nonrelativistic quantum chemistry. We show that very accurate Coulomb energies may be obtained using a modest number of scalar auxiliary basis functions for molecules containing heavy atoms. The efficiency of this new implementation is demonstrated in a detailed study of the spectroscopic properties of the gold dimer, and its scaling behavior has been tested by calculations of some closed-shell gold clusters (Au2, Au3+, Au4, Au5+). The algorithm is found to scale as O(N3), just as it does in the nonrelativistic case, and represents a dramatic improvement in efficiency over the conventional approach in the calculation of the Coulomb matrix, with computation times that are reduced to less than 3% for Au2 and up to 1% in the case of Au5+.

Computational strategies for a four-component Dirac–Kohn–Sham program: Implementation and first applications

An implementation of the generalized gradient approximation within the four-component formulation of relativistic density-functional theory using G-spinor basis sets is presented. This approach is based on the direct evaluation of the relativistic density and its gradient from the G-spinor amplitudes and gradients without explicit reference to the total density matrix. This proves to be a particularly efficient scheme, with an intrinsic computational cost that scales linearly with the number of G-spinor basis functions. In order to validate this new implementation, incorporated in the parallel version of the program BERTHA, a detailed study of the diatomic system CsAu is also reported. The spectroscopic constants D(e),r(e),omega(e), and x(e)omega(e) and the dipole moment mu have been calculated and compared with the best available theoretical and experimental data. The sensitivity of our results to the details of the numerical schemes used to evaluate the matrix elements is analyzed in detail. Also presented is a comparative study of molecular properties in the alkali auride series which have been obtained using several standard non-relativistic density functionals.

Time-dependent four-component relativistic density functional theory for excitation energies

Time-dependent four-component relativistic density functional theory within the linear response regime is developed for calculating excitation energies of heavy element containing systems. Since spin is no longer a good quantum number in this context, we resort to time-reversal adapted Kramers basis when deriving the coupled Dirac-Kohn-Sham equation. The particular implementation of the formalism into the Beijing density functional program package utilizes the multipolar expansion of the induced density to facilitate the construction of the induced Coulomb potential. As the first application, pilot calculations on the valence excitation energies and fine structures of the rare gas (Ne to Rn) and Group 12 (Zn to Hg) atoms are reported. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to be able to account for spin-orbit coupling within time-dependent density functional theory for excitation energies.

Pseudospectral approach to relativistic molecular theory

The efficient relativistic Dirac-Hartree-Fock (DHF) and Dirac-Kohn-Sham (DKS) methods are proposed by an application of the pseudospectral (PS) approach. The present PS-DHF/DKS method is a relativistic extension of the PS-HF/KS method of Friesner, though we aim at higher numerical accuracy by elimination of superfluous arbitrariness. The relativistic PS-DHF/DKS method is implemented into our REL4D programs. Several PS applications to molecular systems show that the relativistic PS-DHF/DKS approach is more efficient than the traditional approach without a loss of accuracy. The present PS-DKS method successfully assigns and predicts the photoelectron spectra of hexacarbonyl complexes of tungsten and seaborgium theoretically.

Numerical examination of performance of some exchange-correlation functionals for molecules containing heavy elements

The performance of 17 exchange-correlation functionals for molecules containing heavy elements are numerically examined through four-component relativistic density DFT calculations. The examined functionals show the similar accuracy as they do for the molecules containing light elements only except for bond lengths. LDA and OP86 produce good results for bond lengths and frequencies but bad bond energies. Different functionals do not show much different performance for bond energies except LDA. BP86 and GP86 produce results with average accuracy while LYP does not perform well. Although encouraging results are obtained with functional B97GGA-1, other heavily parameterized and meta-GGA functionals do not produce impressive results.

Four-component relativistic Kohn-Sham theory

A four-component relativistic implementation of Kohn-Sham theory for molecular systems is presented. The implementation is based on a nonredundant exponential parametrization of the Kohn-Sham energy, well suited to studies of molecular static and dynamic properties as well as of total electronic energies. Calculations are presented of the bond lengths and the harmonic and anharmonic vibrational frequencies of Au(2), Hg(2+)(2), HgAu(+), HgPt, and AuH. All calculations are based on the full four-component Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian, employing nonrelativistic local, gradient-corrected, and hybrid density functionals. The relevance of the Coulomb and Breit operators for the construction of relativistic functionals is discussed; it is argued that, at the relativistic level of density-functional theory and in the absence of a vector potential, the neglect of current functionals follows from the neglect of the Breit operator.

Relativistic electronic structure theory

The theoretical and technical foundations are presented for the efficient relativistic electronic structure theories to treat heavy-atomic molecular systems. This review contains two surveys of four-component and two-component quasi-relativistic approaches. First, we review our highly efficient computational scheme for four-component relativistic ab initio molecular orbital (MO) methods over generally contracted spherical harmonic Gaussian-type spinors (GTSs). Illustrative calculations, which are performed with a new four-component relativistic ab initio molecular orbital program package REL4D, clearly show the efficiency of our computational scheme by the Dirac-Hartree-Fock (DHF) and Dirac-Hartree-Fock (DKS) methods. Next, in the two-component quasi-relativistic framework, two relativistic Hamiltonians, RESC and higher order Douglas-Kroll (DK) Hamiltonians, are introduced, and several illustrative calculations are shown. Numerical results for several systems show that good accuracy can be obtained with our third-order DK (DK3) Hamiltonian.