Uniform quality gaussian basis sets for molecular calculations,I. C1 hydrocarbons

The optimality of MO basis sets of Gaussian functions, when constructed from AO basis sets optimized for the neutral atom or for atom ions, is investigated. A formal charge parameter Q is defined and used to adjust the AO basis sets to the molecular environment, by virtue of a simple quadratic expression. Calculations on a series of C₁ hydrocarbons (CH₂, CH₃, CH₃⁺, CH₃^?, CH₄) using 3G basis sets indicate considerable variations in the optimum Q value with the molecular species. The proposed method offers a simple alternative technique to a full molecular basis set optimization.     

Uniform quality gaussian basis sets for molecular calculations. III. Charge optimized basis sets

Gradient optimized constrained (2s ≠ 2p) and unconstrained (2s ≠ 2p) Gaussian 3G basis sets are reported for the first-row atoms and ions X^O, for Q = ?2 to +4. Analytic equations have been fitted to the logarithm of the exponents as a function of the nuclear charge Z and formal charge Q. Consequently only two parameters Z and Q have to be specified in order to completely define a basis set.     

Uniform quality gaussian basis sets for molecular calculations. II. C2 hydrocarbons

This investigation is a continuation of a study on the optimality of MO basis sets of Gaussian functions, when constructed from AO basis sets optimized for the neutral atom or for ions. A formal charge parameter Q is used to adjust AO basis sets to the molecular environment, by virtue of a simple quadratic equation. Calculations are performed on a series of seven C₂ hydrocarbons (C₂H₂, C₂H₄, C₂H₆, C₂H₃⁺ (open), C₂H₃⁺ (bridged), C₂H₅⁺ (bridged), and C₂H₄^? radical anion). A simple rule is formulated to give approximate values of the charge parameter Q.     

Thermochemical data from ab initio calculations. I. Estimation of SCF energies for augmented basis sets and Hartree–Fock limit energies

A procedure is outlined which allows an estimation of molecular energies both for a finite basis set including polarization functions and for the Hartree–Fock limit. It is shown that the orbital error of a given minimal basis is covered to a certain relatively constant percentage by an augmented basis set calculation. Thus an improvement factor Q_av can be determined by analyzing the corresponding results of small molecules where reasonable estimates of HF limit energies can be taken from the literature. For a combination of Pople's STO -3G and 6-31G* basis sets Q_av turns out to be 0.955.     

Optimization of Gaussian basis sets for Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculations

We investigate the optimization of Gaussian basis sets for relativistic calculations within the framework of the restricted Dirac-Hartree-Fock (DHF) method for atoms. We compare results for Rn of nonrelativistic and relativistic basis set optimizations with a finite nuclear-size. Optimization of separate sets for each spin-orbit component shows that the basis set demands for the lower j component are greater than for the higher j component. In particular, the p _1/2 set requires almost as many functions as the s _1/2 set. This implies that for the development of basis sets for heavy atoms, the symmetry type for which a given number of functions is selected should be based on j, not on l, as has been the case in most molecular calculations performed to date.     

On the use of local basis sets for localized molecular orbitals

Two procedures are discussed for the direct variational optimization of localized molecular orbitals which are expanded in local subsets of the molecular basis set. It is shown that a Newton-Raphson approach is more efficient than an iterative diagonalization scheme. The effect of the basis-set truncation on the quality ofab-initio SCF results is investigated for Be, Li₂, HF, H₂O, NH₃, CH₄ and C₂H₆.     

The influence of basis sets on wave function tails

Wave function tails are analyzed quantitatively by investigating the dependence of exterior electron density (EED ) on basis sets; the EED is defined as the integrated electron density outside the repulsive molecular surface. Ab initio MO calculations with large scale basis sets were performed to establish the benchmark order of EED values for valence orbitals of some simple molecules. It is found that very popular basis sets, such as 4-31G, which are determined by energy optimization, are inferior in describing the wave function tails to some similar size basis sets, such as MIDI -4, which are obtained by least-squares fit to near Hartree-Fock atomic functions. Further the EED values for atomic 2s functions are shown to be unfavorably smaller than those for atomic 2p functions when the same value is used for the exponent α in the GTO basis sets. This indicates that the frequently used constraint α_s = α_p is not appropriate for describing wave function tails with medium-size basis sets. Deficiencies in the energy-optimized basis sets are found to become more serious for molecules including heavier atoms.     

Medium-size Gaussian basis sets for hydrogen through argon

Summary Medium-sized Gaussian basis sets are reoptimized for the ground states of the atoms from hydrogen through argon. The composition of these basis sets is (4s), (5s), and (6s) for H and He, (9s5p) and (12s7p) for the atoms Li to Ne, and (12s8p) and (12s9p) for the atoms Na to Ar. Basis sets for the² P states of Li and Na, and the³ P states of Be and Mg are also constructed since they are useful in molecular calculations. In all cases, our energies are lower than those obtained previously with Gaussian basis sets of the same size.     

Uniform quality gaussian basis sets for molecular calculations. V. Property optimization: A study on H2O

Energy optimization (Eo) and property optimization (PO) were performed on the H₂O molecule. A definition of the “optimality” κ, a dimensionless quantity of the form has been proposed where ω_i is a weighting factor, 〈ǒ〉_i is the computed observable, and O_i is the corresponding property measured experimentally. The minimization of κ leads to property optimization methods (POM) which is a useful alternative to energy optimization methods (EOM).     

Small gaussian basis sets for second-row atoms

6s-type and 4p-type gaussian basis sets are obtained for the second row atoms by fitting, using a least squares criterion, to 12s-type and 9p-type gaussian basis sets which are close to the self-consistent field atomic orbital wave functions. The small gaussian expansions are considered to be more suited for molecular calculations using double basis sets. The differences between these sets and the 10s-type, 6p-type and 9s-type, 5p-type are analysed. For molecular calculations using single gaussian basis sets the 10s-type and 6p-type would seem to be the best compromise.

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Zusammenfassung Ein Basissatz von Gaußfunktionen vom 6s- bzw. 4p-Typ für Atome der zweiten Reihe wird erhalten, indem die Funktionen mit Hilfe des Kriteriums der kleinsten quadratischen Abweichung einem Satz von Gaußfunktionen vom 12s- bzw. 9p-Typ angepaßt werden; dabei ist der letztgenannte Satz der selbstkonsistenten Wellenfunktion aus Atomorbitalen stark angenähert. Die kürzeren Entwicklungen nach Gaußfunktionen werden für geeigneter bei Berechnungen mit zweifachen Basissätzen gehalten. Die Unterschiede zwischen diesen Sätzen und solchen vom 10s- bzw. 6p-Typ sowie vom 9s- und 5p-Typ werden untersucht. Für Molekülrechnungen mit einfachen Basissätzen von Gaußfunktionen scheint der Satz vom 10s- bzw. 6p-Typ den besten Kompromiß darzustellen.

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Résumé On obtient des bases gaussiennes de type 6s et 4p pour les atomes de la seconde ligne par ajustement selon un critère de moindre carré à des bases gaussiennes de type 12s et 9p proches des orbitales atomiques SCF. Les petits développements en gaussiennes sont plus adaptés à des calculs moléculaires en bases doubles. Analyse des différences entre cas bases et les bases de types 10s et 6p, 9s et 5p. Pour des calculs moléculaires à base simple, 10s et 6p semble le meilleur compromis.

     

Simple extended STO basis sets. Helium

The two-parameter function, φ = (C₁ + C₂r^n?1) exp (?ζr), (n = 2–5), has been used as a basis function to determine the independent particle model energy of two-electron atomic systems in their ground state. The best energy is found for n = 3 (He—B³⁺) and for n = 4 (H^?). Our energy values are significantly close to Hartree-Fock results.     

Gaussian basis sets for molecular applications

The choice of basis set in quantum chemical calculations can have a huge impact on the quality of the results, especially for correlated ab initio methods. This article provides an overview of the development of Gaussian basis sets for molecular calculations, with a focus on four popular families of modern atom‐centered, energy‐optimized bases: atomic natural orbital, correlation consistent, polarization consistent, and def2. The terminology used for describing basis sets is briefly covered, along with an overview of the auxiliary basis sets used in a number of integral approximation techniques and an outlook on possible future directions of basis set design. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Relativistic Gaussian basis sets for the atoms hydrogen to neon

Gaussian basis sets for use in relativistic molecular calculations are developed for atoms and ions with one to ten electrons. A relativistic radial wavefunction coupled to an angular function of l-symmetry is expanded into a linear combination of spherical Gaussians of the form r ^l exp (–r ²). One set of basis functions is used for all large and small components of the same angular symmetry. The expansion coefficients and the orbital exponents have been determined by minimizing the integral over the weighted square of the deviation between the Dirac or Dirac-Fock radial wavefunctions and their analytical approximations. The basis sets calculated with a weighting function inversely proportional to the radial distance are found to have numerical constants very similar to those of their energy-optimized non-relativistic counterparts. Atomic sets are formed by combining l-subsets. The results of relativistic and non-relativistic calculations based on these sets are analyzed with respect to different criteria, e.g. their ability to reproduce the relativistic total energy contribution and the spin-orbit splitting. Contraction schemes are proposed.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. A. Neckel on occasion of his 60th birthday     

Pseudodiagonalization-based wavefunction optimization with contracted planewave basis functions

Electronic structure calculations representing the molecular orbitals (MOs) with contracted planewave basis functions (CPWBFs) have been reported recently. CPWBFs are Fourier-series representations of atom-centered basis functions. The mathematical features of CPWBFs permit the construction of matrix–vector products, FC _o , involving the application of the Fock matrix, F , to the set of occupied MOs, C _o , without the explicit evaluation of F . This approach offers a theoretical speed-up of M/n over F -based methods, where M and n are the number of basis functions and occupied MOs, respectively. The present study reports methodological advances that permit FC _o -based optimization of wavefunction formed from CPWBFs. In particular, a technique is reported for optimizing wavefunctions by combining pseudodiagonalization techniques based on an exact representation of FC _o , approximate information regarding the virtual orbital energies, and direct inversion of the iterative subspace optimization schemes to guide the wavefunction to a converged solution. This method is found to speed-up wavefunction optimizations by factors of up to ~6 − 8 over F -based optimization methods while providing identical results. Further, the computational cost of this technique is relatively insensitive to basis set size, thus providing further benefits in calculations using large CPWBF basis sets. The results of density functional theory calculations show that this method permits the use of hybrid exchange-correlation (XC) functionals with a small increase in effort over analogous calculations using generalized gradient approximation XC functionals. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

High-quality Gaussian basis sets for fourth-row atoms

Summary Energy-optimized Gaussian basis sets of triple-zeta quality for the atoms Rb-Xe have been derived. Two series of basis sets are developed; (24s 16p 10d) and (26s 16p 10d) sets which we expand to 13d and 19p functions as the 4d and 5p shells become occupied. For the atoms lighter than Cd, the (24s 16p 10d) sets with triple-zeta valence distributions are higher in energy than the corresponding double-zeta distribution. To ensure a triple-zeta distribution and a global energy minimum the (26s 16p 10d) sets were derived. Total atomic energies from the largest basis sets are between 198 and 284E _H above the numerical Hartree-Fock energies.     

Direct calculation of the energy gradient with cartesian Gaussian basis sets

A computer program POLYGRAD based on the POLYATOM/1 system is presented which evaluates analytically the energy gradient using thes-type and Cartesianp-type Gaussian basis functions. Model calculations on hydrogen peroxide were made to compare the accuracy and the computer time involved in the analytical and numerical determinations of the energy gradient.     

Comments on relativistic basis sets

 Adding the tight and diffuse Gaussian-type functions (GTFs), Faegri's variationally determined double-zeta-quality basis sets for molecular relativistic calculations are examined. An example atom is Cm. When the tight s-type GTF is added the total energy increases, whereas when diffuse GTFs are added the total energy decreases. The reasons for these findings are clarified. It is also pointed out that not only the Faegri's sets but also other variationally determined basis sets would show similar behavior so far as the expansion terms are not sufficient. Received: 22 July 2002 / Accepted: 21 October 2002 / Published online: 31 January 2003 Correspondence to: H. Tatewaki e-mail: htatewaki@nsc.nagoya.cu.ac.jp     

Polarization functions for gaussian basis sets for the first row atoms

Exponent optimization was performed for a single set ofd-type Gaussians on the first row atoms C, N, and O in fifteen small molecules. The hydrogenp-exponents were kept at the fixed value of 1.0. For the underlying valence shell basis sets, Dunning's double zeta basis sets were used. Standard exponents of polarization functions are suggested for the most common valence states of the C, N, and O atoms.