Analytic gradient for the multireference Brillouin-Wigner coupled cluster method and for the state-universal multireference coupled cluster method

Multireference Electron Correlation Methods: Journeys along Potential Energy Surfaces

Multireference electron correlation methods describe static and dynamical electron correlation in a balanced way and, therefore, can yield accurate and predictive results even when single-reference methods or multiconfigurational self-consistent field theory fails. One of their most prominent applications in quantum chemistry is the exploration of potential energy surfaces. This includes the optimization of molecular geometries, such as equilibrium geometries and conical intersections and on-the-fly photodynamics simulations, both of which depend heavily on the ability of the method to properly explore the potential energy surface. Because such applications require nuclear gradients and derivative couplings, the availability of analytical nuclear gradients greatly enhances the scope of quantum chemical methods. This review focuses on the developments and advances made in the past two decades. A detailed account of the analytical nuclear gradient and derivative coupling theories is presented. Emphasis is given to the software infrastructure that allows one to make use of these methods. Notable applications of multireference electron correlation methods to chemistry, including geometry optimizations and on-the-fly dynamics, are summarized at the end followed by a discussion of future prospects.

Perturbative universal state-selective correction for state-specific multi-reference coupled cluster methods

In this work, we report an extension of our previous development of the universal state-selective (USS) multireference coupled-cluster (MRCC) formalism. It was shown [Brabec et al., J. Chem. Phys. 136, 124102 (2012)] and [Banik et al., J. Chem. Phys. 142, 114106 (2015)] that the USS(2) approach significantly improves the accuracy of Brillouin-Wigner and Mukherjee MRCC formulations, however, the numerical and storage costs associated with calculating highly excited intermediates pose a significant challenge, which can restrict the applicability of the USS(2) method. Therefore, we introduce a perturbative variant of the USS(2) approach (USS(pt)), which substantially reduces numerical overhead of the full USS(2) correction while preserving its accuracy. Since the new USS(pt) implementation calculates the triple and quadruple projections in on-the-fly manner, the memory bottleneck associated with the need of storing expensive recursive intermediates is entirely eliminated. On the example of several benchmark systems, we demonstrate accuracies of USS(pt) and USS(2) approaches and their efficiency in describing quasidegenerate electronic states. It is also shown that the USS(pt) method significantly alleviates problems associated with the lack of invariance of MRCC theories upon the rotation of active orbitals.

Iterative universal state selective correction for the Brillouin-Wigner multireference coupled-cluster theory

As a further development of the previously introduced a posteriori Universal State-Selective (USS) corrections [K. Kowalski, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 194107 (2011); J. Brabec et al., ibid. 136, 124102 (2012)], we suggest an iterative form of the USS correction by means of correcting effective Hamiltonian matrix elements. We also formulate USS corrections via the left Bloch equations. The convergence of the USS corrections with excitation level towards the full configuration interaction (FCI) limit is also investigated. Various forms of the USS and simplified diagonal USS corrections at the singles and doubles and perturbative triple levels are numerically assessed on several model systems and on the ozone and tetramethyleneethane molecules. It is shown that the iterative USS correction can successfully replace the previously developed a posteriori Brillouin-Wigner coupled cluster size-extensivity correction, while it is not sensitive to intruder states and performs well also in other cases when the a posteriori one fails, like, e.g., for the asymmetric vibration mode of ozone.

Potential energy surface studies via a single root multireference coupled cluster theory

We have employed complete active space based single root multireference coupled cluster method (the resulting method is referred to by the acronym sr-MRCC) to compute the potential energy surfaces (PESs) of some well studied "protypical model" systems for which a highly accurate and reliable database is available for comparison. As that of state-specific theory, the sr-MRCC approach focuses and correlates one state while using a multiconfigurational reference and thus it naturally avoids intruder states. The present method is structurally different from the well known state specific multireference coupled cluster (SS-MRCC) method introduced by Mahapatra et al. [Mol. Phys. 94, 157 (1998)]. As that of the SS-MRCC theory, the present method is also based on the Jeziorski-Monkhorst ansatz where a different exponential cluster operator exp(T(mu)) acts on its corresponding model function phi(mu). The final cluster finding equations contain coupling between the cluster operators for all the mu, which are mainly responsible to prove the extensivity of both the cluster amplitudes and the energy. The present sr-MRCC theory is size-extensive and size-consistent when localized orbitals are used. The systems considered here exhibit varying degrees of degeneracy at different regions of PES. The treatment of these systems via traditional effective Hamiltonian based methods suffers from divergence problems in the iterative solution of the CC equations (the issue termed as "intruder state"). The sr-MRCC results lie closer to the ones obtained by the SS-MRCC method for these systems. To judge the efficacy of the present method, we have compared our results with other previously published theoretical estimations, which clearly indicate that the present method is reliable in studying the dissociation PES of states plagued by electronic degeneracy as well as notorious intruder effects. The highly satisfactory performance of the sr-MRCC method, vis-a-vis the other sophisticated methods, in describing the lowest and the first excited singlet states of BeH(2) at points of high degeneracy is noticeable.