Description of core excitations by time-dependent density functional theory with local density approximation, generalized gradient approximation, meta-generalized gradient approximation, and hybrid functionals

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is employed to investigate exchange-correlation-functional dependence of the vertical core-excitation energies of several molecules including H, C, N, O, and F atoms. For the local density approximation (LDA), generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and meta-GGA, the calculated X1s-->pi* excitation energies (X = C, N, O, and F) are severely underestimated by more than 13 eV. On the other hand, time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) overestimates the excitation energies by more than 6 eV. The hybrid functionals perform better than pure TDDFT because HF exchange remedies the underestimation of pure TDDFT. Among these hybrid functionals, the Becke-Half-and-Half-Lee-Yang-Parr (BHHLYP) functional including 50% HF exchange provides the smallest error for core excitations. We have also discovered the systematic trend that the deviations of TDHF and TDDFT with the LDA, GGA, and meta-GGA functionals show a strong atom-dependence. Namely, their deviations become larger for heavier atoms, while the hybrid functionals are significantly less atom-dependent.     

Interactions in large, polyaromatic hydrocarbon dimers: application of density functional theory with dispersion corrections

The interactions within two models for graphene, coronene and hexabenzocoronene (HBC), and (H 3C(CH 2) 5) 6-HBC, a synthesizable model for asphaltenes, were studied using density functional theory (DFT) with dispersion corrections. The corrections were implemented using carbon atom-centered effective core-type potentials that were designed to correct the erroneous long-range behavior of several DFT methods. The potentials can be used with any computational chemistry program package that can handle standard effective core potential input, without the need for software modification. Testing on a set of common noncovalently bonded dimers shows that the potentials improve calculated binding energies by factors of 2-3 over those obtained without the potentials. Binding energies are predicted to within ca. 15%, and monomer separations to within ca. 0.1 A, of high-level wave function data. The application of the present approach predicts binding energies and structures of the coronene dimer that are in excellent agreement with the results of other DFT methods in which dispersion is taken into account. Dimers of HBC show extensive binding in pi-stacking arrangements, with the largest binding energy, 44.8 kcal/mol, obtained for a parallel-displaced structure. This structure is inline with the published crystal structure. Conformations in which the monomers are perpendicular to one another are much more weakly bound and have binding energies less than 10 kcal/mol. For dimers of (H 3C(CH 2) 5) 6-HBC, which contain 336 atoms, we find that a slipped-parallel structure with C s symmetry has a binding energy of 52.4 kcal/mol, 8.9 kcal/mol lower than that of a bowl-like, C 6 v -symmetric structure.     

Accurate energies calculated by empirical corrections to the local spin density approximation

We tested the efficacy of three empirical correction schemes on atomization energies calculated by the following theories: Kohn–Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT) with local spin density approximation (LSDA), two KS-DFT gradient-corrected methods, one hybrid Hartree–Fock/KS-DFT method similar to B3LYP, and the ab initio extrapolation procedures G1 and G2. Empirical corrections improved the LSDA results greatly, while the other theories were improved slightly or not at all. The best procedure for correcting LSDA atomization energies brings the mean absolute deviation from experiment from 38.3 to 4.0 kcal/mol on a subset of 44 molecules in the G1 dataset that were not used in deriving the empirical parameters. This corrected LSDA is interesting for three reasons: it could be a useful computational tool in some cases, it implies that the LSDA itself gives accurate energies for reactions where atomic coordinations stay unchanged, and it gives insight into the search of better functionals.     

Investigations of hydrogen-bonded systems: Local density approximation and gradient corrections

The applicability of the local density approximation (LDA ) and of corresponding gradient corrections (for the exchange and correlation energy) for the treatment of the hydrogen bond is investigated. As test systems, we consider the water dimer and the H₂O…?HX complexes (X = F, Cl, Br): Using an LCAO scheme, their equilibrium geometries and interaction energies are ?alculated and compared with experimental data and with other calculations. We obtain that the LDA gives the geometries in qualitative agreement with other data, whereas the energies are overestimated. The use of the gradient corrections (GC ) according to Becke and Perdew leads to a significant improvement of the geometry, and especially of the interaction energies. The calculations indicate further that LDA + GC should also be able to describe weaker intermolecular interactions than the usual hydrogen bond. Finally, a short discussion of the charge distribution and the dipole moments of the H₂O…?HX complexes is performed. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Adiabatic corrections to density functional theory energies and wave functions

The adiabatic finite-nuclear-mass-correction (FNMC) to the electronic energies and wave functions of atoms and molecules is formulated for density-functional theory and implemented in the deMon code. The approach is tested for a series of local and gradient corrected density functionals, using MP2 results and diagonal-Born-Oppenheimer corrections from the literature for comparison. In the evaluation of absolute energy corrections of nonorganic molecules the LDA PZ81 functional works surprisingly better than the others. For organic molecules the GGA BLYP functional has the best performance. FNMC with GGA functionals, mainly BLYP, show a good performance in the evaluation of relative corrections, except for nonorganic molecules containing H atoms. The PW86 functional stands out with the best evaluation of the barrier of linearity of H2O and the isotopic dipole moment of HDO. In general, DFT functionals display an accuracy superior than the common belief and because the corrections are based on a change of the electronic kinetic energy they are here ranked in a new appropriate way. The approach is applied to obtain the adiabatic correction for full atomization of alcanes C(n)H(2n+2), n = 4-10. The barrier of 1 mHartree is approached for adiabatic corrections, justifying its insertion into DFT.     

First-order relativistic corrections to MP2 energy from standard gradient codes: Comparison with results from density functional theory

The evaluation of the first-order scalar relativistic corrections to MP2 energy based on either direct perturbation theory or the mass–velocity and Darwin terms is discussed. In a basis set of Lévy-Leblond spinors the one- and two-electron matrix elements of the relativistic Hamiltonian can be decomposed into a nonrelativistic part and a relativistic perturbation. Thus, a program capable of calculating nonrelativistic energy gradients can be used to calculate the cross-term between relativity and correlation. The method has been applied to selected closed-shell atoms (He, Be, Ne, and Ar) and molecules (CuH, AgH, and AuH). The calculated equilibrium distances and harmonic frequencies were compared with results from first-order relativistic density functional calculations. It was found that the cross-term is not the origin of the nonadditivity of relativistic and correlation effects. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 1596–1603, 1998     

An improved theoretical approach to the empirical corrections of density functional theory

An empirical correction to density functional theory (DFT) has been developed in this study. The approach, called correlation corrected atomization–dispersion (CCAZD), involves short- and long-range terms. Short-range correction consists of bond (1,2-) and angle (1,3-) interactions, which remedies the deficiency of DFT in describing the proto-branching stabilization effects. Long-range correction includes a Buckingham potential function aiming to account for the dispersion interactions. The empirical corrections of DFT were parameterized to reproduce reported ΔH _f values of the training set containing alkane, alcohol and ether molecules. The ΔH _f of the training set molecules predicted by the CCAZD method combined with two different DFT methods, B3LYP and MPWB1K, with a 6-31G* basis set agreed well with the experimental data. For 106 alkane, alcohol and ether compounds, the average absolute deviations (AADs) in ΔH _f were 0.45 and 0.51 kcal/mol for B3LYP- and MPWB1K-CCAZD, respectively. Calculations of isomerization energies, rotational barriers and conformational energies further validated the CCAZD approach. The isomerization energies improved significantly with the CCAZD treatment. The AADs for 22 energies of isomerization reactions were decreased from 3.55 and 2.44 to 0.55 and 0.82 kcal/mol for B3LYP and MPWB1K, respectively. This study also provided predictions of MM4, G3, CBS-QB3 and B2PLYP-D for comparison. The final test of the CCAZD approach on the calculation of the cellobiose analog potential surface also showed promising results. This study demonstrated that DFT calculations with CCAZD empirical corrections achieved very good agreement with reported values for various chemical reactions with a small basis set as 6-31G*.     

Generalized gradient approximation adjusted to transition metals properties: Key roles of exchange and local spin density

Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) and PBE adapted for solids (PBEsol) are exchange-correlation (xc) functionals widely used in density functional theory simulations. Their differences are the exchange, μ, and correlation, β, coefficients, causing PBEsol to lose the Local Spin Density (LSD) response. Here, the μ/β two-dimensional (2D) accuracy landscape is analyzed between PBE and PBEsol xc functional limits for 27 transition metal (TM) bulks, as well as for 81 TM surfaces. Several properties are analyzed, including the shortest interatomic distances, cohesive energies, and bulk moduli for TM bulks, and surface relaxation degree, surface energies, and work functions for TM surfaces. The exploration, comparing the accuracy degree with respect experimental values, reveals that the found xc minimum, called VV, being a PBE variant, represents an improvement of 5% in mean absolute percentage error terms, whereas this improvement reaches ~11% for VVsol, a xc resulting from the restoration of LSD response in PBEsol, and so regarded as its variant.     

Computational study of water and ammonia dimers with density functional theory methods

The structures and energies for the dimerization of water and ammonia molecules were computed with density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio methods. For all studies the same 6-311+G(2d,2p) basis set was used. Two linear hydrogen-bonded and cyclic ammonia dimer structures were computed and their relative stability is discussed. From the systematic studies, hybrid DFT methods were selected as reliable for computing the parameters of these types of van der Waals' complex.     

Vibrational corrections to geometries of transition metal complexes from density functional theory

Zero-point vibrational corrections are computed at the BP86/AE1 level for the set of 50 transition-metal/ligand bonds that have recently been proposed as testing ground for DFT methods, because of the availability of precise experimental gas-phase geometries (Bühl and Kabrede, J Chem Theory Comput 2006, 2, 1282). These corrections are indicated to be transferable to a large extent between various density-functional/basis-set combinations, so that they can be used to estimate zero-point averaged r0g distances from re values optimized at other theoretical levels. Applying this approach to a number of popular DFT levels does not, in general, improve their overall accuracy in terms of mean and standard deviations from experiment. The hybrid variant of the meta-functional TPSS is confirmed as promising choice for computing structures of transition-metal complexes.     

Application of semiempirical long-range dispersion corrections to periodic systems in density functional theory

Ewald summation is used to apply semiempirical long-range dispersion corrections (Grimme, J Comput Chem 2006, 27, 1787; 2004, 25, 1463) to periodic systems in density functional theory. Using the parameters determined before for molecules and the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof functional, structure parameters and binding energies for solid methane, graphite, and vanadium pentoxide are determined in close agreement with observed values. For methane, a lattice constant a of 580 pm and a sublimation energy of 11 kJ mol(-1) are calculated. For the layered solids graphite and vanadia, the interlayer distances are 320 pm and 450 pm, respectively, whereas the graphite interlayer energy is -5.5 kJ mol(-1) per carbon atom and layer. Only when adding the semiempirical dispersion corrections, realistic values are obtained for the energies of adsorption of C(4) alkenes in microporous silica (-66 to -73 kJ mol(-1)) and the adsorption and chemisorption (alkoxide formation) of isobutene on acidic sites in the micropores of zeolite ferrierite (-78 to -94 kJ mol(-1)). As expected, errors due to missing self-interaction correction as in the energy for the proton transfer from the acidic site to the alkene forming a carbenium ion are not affected by the dispersion term. The adsorption and reaction energies are compared with the results from M?ller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory with basis set extrapolation.     

Implementation of empirical dispersion corrections to density functional theory for periodic systems

A recently developed empirical dispersion correction (Grimme et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2010, 132, 154104) to standard density functional theory (DFT‐D3) is implemented in the plane‐wave program package VASP. The DFT‐D3 implementation is compared with an implementation of the earlier DFT‐D2 version (Grimme, J. Comput. Chem. 2004, 25, 1463; Grimme, J. Comput. Chem. 2006, 27, 1787). Summation of empirical pair potential terms is performed over all atom pairs in the reference cell and over atoms in shells of neighboring cells until convergence of the dispersion energy is obtained. For DFT‐D3, the definition of coordination numbers has to be modified with respect to the molecular version to ensure convergence. The effect of three‐center terms as implemented in the original molecular DFT‐D3 version is investigated. The empirical parameters are taken from the original DFT‐D3 version where they had been optimized for a reference set of small molecules. As the coordination numbers of atoms in bulk and surfaces are much larger than in the reference compounds, this effect has to be discussed. The results of test calculations for bulk properties of metals, metal oxides, benzene, and graphite indicate that the original parameters are also suitable for solid‐state systems. In particular, the interlayer distance in bulk graphite and lattice constants of molecular crystals is considerably improved over standard functionals. With the molecular standard parameters (Grimme et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2010, 132, 154104; Grimme, J. Comput. Chem. 2006, 27, 1787) a slight overbinding is observed for ionic oxides where dispersion should not contribute to the bond. For simple adsorbate systems, such as Xe atoms and benzene on Ag(111), the DFT‐D implementations reproduce experimental results with a similar accuracy as more sophisticated approaches based on perturbation theory (Rohlfing and Bredow, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008, 101, 266106). © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Density functional LCAO calculations for solids: Comparison among Hartree–Fock,DFT local density approximation,and DFT generalized gradient approximation structural properties

In this article, the results of a recently implemented DFT a posteriori and Kohn-Sham (KS ) linear combination of atomic orbital computational scheme for solids are presented. The equilibrium lattice parameters, bulk moduli, and lattice energies are calculated for eight crystallized systems. Local density approximation (LDA ) and generalized gradient approximation (GCA ) functionals and potentials are used. The maps of the Hartree-Fock (HF ) and Ks electronic densities and band structures are depicted. The KS results confirm the trend of the a posteriori scheme. Very good agreement between calculated and experimental lattice energies has been found for GGA potentials. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Total energies of molecules with the local density functional approximation and gaussian basis sets

Total energies of small molecules were calculated with a local density functional (LDF) approximation within the LCAO MO SCF scheme. The local spin density functional (LSD) of Gunnarsson and Lundqvist was used. The basis sets used are of contracted gaussian type which allow comparison of LSD with Hartree-Fock (HF) results. The program for calculation of the LSD term was incorporated into the standard ab initio package. The LSD binding energies were in better agreement with experiment than those from HF.     

The local orbital energy and density functional theory

From the viewpoint of density functional theory, an expression is derived which improves the average energy of a trial density. Applications to atoms and molecules are made using wave function methods and are based on properties of the variance, which is defined as $ (\overline {\varepsilon ^2 } - (\overline \varepsilon)^2)^{1/2} $, where ? is the local orbital energy. Calculated results for both Hartree-Fock and correlated wave functions are quite encouraging.     

Adiabatic approximation of time-dependent density matrix functional response theory

Time-dependent density matrix functional theory can be formulated in terms of coupled-perturbed response equations, in which a coupling matrix K(omega) features, analogous to the well-known time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) case. An adiabatic approximation is needed to solve these equations, but the adiabatic approximation is much more critical since there is not a good "zero order" as in TDDFT, in which the virtual-occupied Kohn-Sham orbital energy differences serve this purpose. We discuss a simple approximation proposed earlier which uses only results from static calculations, called the static approximation (SA), and show that it is deficient, since it leads to zero response of the natural orbital occupation numbers. This leads to wrong behavior in the omega-->0 limit. An improved adiabatic approximation (AA) is formulated. The two-electron system affords a derivation of exact coupled-perturbed equations for the density matrix response, permitting analytical comparison of the adiabatic approximation with the exact equations. For the two-electron system also, the exact density matrix functional (2-matrix in terms of 1-matrix) is known, enabling testing of the static and adiabatic approximations unobscured by approximations in the functional. The two-electron HeH(+) molecule shows that at the equilibrium distance, SA consistently underestimates the frequency-dependent polarizability alpha(omega), the adiabatic TDDFT overestimates alpha(omega), while AA improves upon SA and, indeed, AA produces the correct alpha(0). For stretched HeH(+), adiabatic density matrix functional theory corrects the too low first excitation energy and overpolarization of adiabatic TDDFT methods and exhibits excellent agreement with high-quality CCSD ("exact") results over a large omega range.     

Thermodynamics of symmetric dimers: lattice density functional theory predictions and simulations

A new lattice density functional theory (DFT) approach is proposed for symmetric dimers taking into account all possible configurations for molecules adjacent to a central dimer. Comparison with Monte Carlo simulations shows significant improvement of the proposed model compared to previously developed version of lattice DFT for dimers. It is shown that the new model gives accurate analytical solutions over a wide range of densities and temperatures. Phase transitions in dimers are analyzed and fundamental differences between dimers and monomers are discussed.     

Meta-generalized gradient approximation: explanation of a realistic nonempirical density functional

Tao, Perdew, Staroverov, and Scuseria (TPSS) have constructed a nonempirical meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 146401 (2003)] for the exchange-correlation energy, imposing exact constraints relevant to the paradigm densities of condensed matter physics and quantum chemistry. Results of their extensive tests on molecules, solids, and solid surfaces are encouraging, suggesting that this density functional achieves uniform accuracy for diverse properties and systems. In the present work, this functional is explained and details of its construction are presented. In particular, the functional is constructed to yield accurate energies under uniform coordinate scaling to the low-density or strong-interaction limit. Its nonlocality is displayed by plotting the factor F(xc) that gives the enhancement relative to the local density approximation for exchange. We also discuss an apparently harmless order-of-limits problem in the meta-GGA. The performance of this functional is investigated for exchange and correlation energies and shell-removal energies of atoms and ions. Non-self-consistent molecular atomization energies and bond lengths of the TPSS meta-GGA, calculated with GGA orbitals and densities, agree well with those calculated self-consistently. We suggest that satisfaction of additional exact constraints on higher rungs of a ladder of density functional approximations can lead to further progress.     

First-principles local density approximation + U and generalized gradient approximation + U study of plutonium oxides

The electronic structure and properties of PuO2 and Pu2O3 have been studied from first principles by the all-electron projector-augmented-wave method. The local density approximation+U and the generalized gradient approximation+U formalisms have been used to account for the strong on-site Coulomb repulsion among the localized Pu 5f electrons. We discuss how the properties of PuO2 and Pu2O3 are affected by the choice of U as well as the choice of exchange-correlation potential. Also, oxidation reaction of Pu2O3, leading to formation of PuO2, and its dependence on U and exchange-correlation potential have been studied. Our results show that by choosing an appropriate U, it is promising to correctly and consistently describe structural, electronic, and thermodynamic properties of PuO2 and Pu2O3, which enable the modeling of redox process involving Pu-based materials possible.