Computing vibrational spectra using a new collocation method with a pruned basis and more points than basis functions: Avoiding quadrature

Using a pruned basis and a sparse collocation grid with more points than basis functions to do efficient and accurate MCTDH calculations with general potential energy surfaces

We propose a new collocation multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method. It reduces point-set error by using more points than basis functions. Collocation makes it possible to use MCTDH with a general potential energy surface without computing any integrals. The collocation points are associated with a basis larger than the basis used to represent wavefunctions. Both bases are obtained from a direct product basis built from single-particle functions by imposing a pruning condition. The collocation points are those on a sparse grid. Heretofore, collocation MCTDH calculations with more points than basis functions have only been possible if both the collocation grid and the basis set are direct products. In this paper, we exploit a new pseudo-inverse to use both more points than basis functions and a pruned basis and grid. We demonstrate that, for a calculation of the lowest 50 vibrational states (energy levels and wavefunctions) of CH2NH, errors can be reduced by two orders of magnitude by increasing the number of points, without increasing the basis size. This is true also when unrefined time-independent points are used.

Eigenstate calculation in the state-averaged (multi-layer) multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree approach

A new approach for the calculation of eigenstates with the state-averaged (multi-layer) multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) approach is presented. The approach is inspired by the recent work of Larsson [J. Chem. Phys. 151, 204102 (2019)]. It employs local optimization of the basis sets at each node of the multi-layer MCTDH tree and successive downward and upward sweeps to obtain a globally converged result. At the top node, the Hamiltonian represented in the basis of the single-particle functions (SPFs) of the first layer is diagonalized. Here p wavefunctions corresponding to the p lowest eigenvalues are computed by a block Lanczos approach. At all other nodes, a non-linear operator consisting of the respective mean-field Hamiltonian matrix and a projector onto the space spanned by the respective SPFs is considered. Here, the eigenstate corresponding to the lowest eigenvalue is computed using a short iterative Lanczos scheme. Two different examples are studied to illustrate the new approach: the calculation of the vibrational states of methyl and acetonitrile. The calculations for methyl employ the single-layer MCTDH approach, a general potential energy surface, and the correlation discrete variable representation. A five-layer MCTDH representation and a sum of product-type Hamiltonian are used in the acetonitrile calculations. Very fast convergence and order of magnitude reductions in the numerical effort compared to the previously used block relaxation scheme are found. Furthermore, a detailed comparison with the results of Avila and Carrington [J. Chem. Phys. 134, 054126 (2011)] for acetonitrile highlights the potential problems of convergence tests for high-dimensional systems.

Smolyak Scheme for solving the Schrödinger equation: Application to Malonaldehyde in Full Dimensionality

In 1963 Smolyak introduced an approach to overcome the exponential scaling with respect to the number of variables of the direct product size [S. A. Smolyak Soviet Mathematics Doklady, 4, 240 (1963)]. The main idea is to replace a single large direct product by a sum of selected small direct products. It was first used in quantum dynamics in 2009 by Avila and Carrington [G. Avila and T. Carrington, J. Chem. Phys., 131, 174103 (2009)]. Since then, several calculations have been published by Avila and Carrington and by other groups. In the present study, and to push the limit to larger and more complex systems, this scheme is combined with the use of an on-the-fly calculation of the kinetic energy operator and a Block-Davidson procedure to obtain eigenstates in our home-made Fortran codes, ElVibRot and Tnum-Tana. This was applied to compute the tunneling splitting of malonaldehyde in full dimensionality (21D) using the potential of Mizukami et al. [W. Mizukami, S. Habershon, and D.P. Tew, J. Chem. Phys. 141, 1443-10 (2014)]. Our tunneling splitting calculations, 21.7±0.3 cm-1 and 2.9±0.1 cm-1 , show excellent agreement with the experimental values, 21.6 cm-1 and 2.9 cm-1 for the normal isotopologue and the mono-deuterated one, respectively.