Aron J. Cohen

Revealing Noncovalent Interactions

Molecular structure does not easily identify the intricate noncovalent interactions that govern many areas of biology and chemistry, including design of new materials and drugs. We develop an approach to detect noncovalent interactions in real space, based on the electron density and its derivatives. Our approach reveals the underlying chemistry that compliments the covalent structure. It provides a rich representation of van der Waals interactions, hydrogen bonds, and steric repulsion in small molecules, molecular complexes, and solids. Most importantly, the method, requiring only knowledge of the atomic coordinates, is efficient and applicable to large systems, such as proteins or DNA. Across these applications, a view of nonbonded interactions emerges as continuous surfaces rather than close contacts between atom pairs, offering rich insight into the design of new and improved ligands.

Insights into Current Limitations of Density Functional Theory

Density functional theory of electronic structure is widely and successfully applied in simulations throughout engineering and sciences. However, for many predicted properties, there are spectacular failures that can be traced to the delocalization error and static correlation error of commonly used approximations. These errors can be characterized and understood through the perspective of fractional charges and fractional spins introduced recently. Reducing these errors will open new frontiers for applications of density functional theory.

DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF NEW EXCHANGE-CORRELATION FUNCTIONALS

We recently presented a new method for developing generalized gradient approximation (GGA) exchange-correlation energy functionals, using a least-squares procedure involving numerical exchange-correlation potentials and experimental energetics and nuclear gradients. In this paper we use the same method to develop a new GGA functional, denoted HCTH, based on an expansion recently suggested by Becke [J. Chem. Phys. 107, 8554 (1997)]. For our extensive training set, the new functional yields improved energetics compared to both the BLYP and B3LYP functionals [Phys. Rev. A 38, 3098 (1988); Phys. Rev. B 37, 785 (1988); J. Chem. Phys. 98, 5648 (1993); J. Phys. Chem. 98, 11623 (1994)]. The geometries of these systems, together with those of a set of transition metal compounds, are shown to be an improvement over the BLYP functional, while the reaction barriers for six hydrogen abstraction reactions are comparable to those of B3LYP. These improvements are achieved without introducing any fraction of exact orbital...

Left-right correlation energy

We first attempt to determine a local exchange functional Ex[p] which accurately reproduces the Hartree-Fock (HF) energies of the 18 first and second row atoms. Ex[p is determined from p and |δp|, and we find that we can improve significantly upon Beckes original generalized gradient approximation functional (commonly called B88X) by allowing the coefficient of the Dirac exchange term to be optimized (it is argued that molecules do not behave like the uniform electron gas). We call this new two parameter exchange functional OPTX. We find that neither δ p or t = Σ δ i |2 improve the fit to these atomic energies. These exchange functionals include not only exchange, but also left-right correlation. It is therefore proposed that this functional provides a definition for exchange energy plus left-right correlation energy when used in Kohn-Sham (KS) calculations. We call this energy the Kohn-Sham exchange (or KSX) energy. It is shown that for nearly all molecules studied these KSX energies are lower than the corresponding HF energies, thus giving values for the non-dynamic correlation energy. At stretched geometries, the KSX energies are always lower than the HF energies, and often substantially so. Furthermore all bond lengths from the KSX calculations are longer than HF bond lengths and experimental bond lengths, which again demonstrates the inclusion of left-right correlation effects in the functional. For these reasons we prefer to split the correlation energy into two parts: left-right correlation energy and dynamic correlation energy, arguing that the usage of the words ‘non-dynamic’ or ‘static’ or ‘near-degeneracy’ is less meaningful. We recognize that this definition of KSX is not precise, because the definition of a local Ex[p] can never be precise. We also recognize that these ideas are not new, but we think that their importance has been insufficiently recognized in functional determination. When we include third row atoms in our analysis, we are unable to find a local exchange functional which is a substantial improvement over B88X for the reproduction of HF energies. This must arise from the effects of the core orbitals, and therefore we do not consider that this detracts from the improved accuracy of OPTX. We report some MCSCF calculations constructed from bonding-antibonding configurations, from which we attempt to calculate ab initio left-right correlation. There is only moderate agreement between the two approaches. Finally we combine the OPTX functional with established correlation functionals (LYP, P86, P91) to form OLYP, OP86 and OP91; OLYP is a great improvement on BLYP for both energy and structure, and OP86, OP91 are an improvement over BP86, BP91 for structure. The importance of the exchange functional for molecular structure is therefore underlined.

Localization and Delocalization Errors in Density Functional Theory and Implications for Band-Gap Prediction

The band-gap problem and other systematic failures of approximate exchange-correlation functionals are explained from an analysis of total energy for fractional charges. The deviation from the correct intrinsic linear behavior in finite systems leads to delocalization and localization errors in large and bulk systems. Functionals whose energy is convex for fractional charges such as the local density approximation display an incorrect apparent linearity in the bulk limit, due to the delocalization error. Concave functionals also have an incorrect apparent linearity in the bulk calculation, due to the localization error and imposed symmetry. This resolves an apparent paradox and identifies the physical nature of the error to be addressed to obtain accurate band gaps from density functional theory.

Many-electron self-interaction error in approximate density functionals.

One of the most important challenges in density functional theory (DFT) is the proper description of fractional charge systems relating to the self-interaction error (SIE). Traditionally, the SIE has been formulated as a one-electron problem, which has been addressed in several recent functionals. However, these recent one-electron SIE-free functionals, while greatly improving the description of thermochemistry and reaction barriers in general, still exhibit many of the difficulties associated with SIE. Thus we emphasize the need to surpass this limit and shed light on the many-electron SIE. After identifying the sufficient condition for functionals to be free from SIE, we focus on the symptoms and investigate the performance of most popular functionals. We show that these functionals suffer from many-electron SIE. Finally, we give a SIE classification of density functionals.

Assessment of a new local exchange functional OPTX

Abstract We evaluate the performance of a new local exchange functional OPTX [N.C. Handy and A.J. Cohen, Mol. Phys. 99 (2001) 403] in predicting thermochemistry and molecular structures. OPTX was developed taking into account that exchange and left–right correlation are non-separable. Used with the correlation functional LYP, OLYP (=OPTX+LYP) significantly improves upon the well-established BLYP. This is attributed to the accurate description by OPTX of the Kohn–Sham exchange (KSX) energy, parameterised against atomic exchange energies. The superiority of OPTX is most evident based on molecular energetic predictions at stretched geometries, where hybrid functionals severely deteriorate. OLYP is recommended in place of BLYP for computational chemistry.

Fractional charge perspective on the band gap in density-functional theory

The calculation of the band gap by density-functional theory (DFT) is examined by considering the behavior of the energy as a function of number of electrons. It is explained that the incorrect band-gap prediction with most approximate functionals originates mainly from errors in describing systems with fractional charges. Formulas for the energy derivatives with respect to number of electrons are derived, which clarify the role of optimized effective potentials in prediction of the band gap. Calculations with a recent functional that has much improved behavior for fractional charges give a good prediction of the energy gap and also

Development of exchange-correlation functionals with minimal many-electron self-interaction error

{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\mathrm{HOMO}}\ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{-}I

Self-interaction-free exchange-correlation functional for thermochemistry and kinetics

for finite systems. Our results indicate that it is possible, within DFT, to have a functional whose eigenvalues or derivatives accurately predict the band gap.