Dmitry I. Lyakh

State-specific multireference complete-active-space coupled-cluster approach versus other quantum chemical methods: dissociation of the N2 molecule

A comprehensive comparison of different quantum-chemical methods applied to calculate the N2 ground state potential energy curve is presented. In the comparison we highlight the multireference state-specific (MRSS) coupled-cluster (CC) approach with the complete-active-space (CAS) reference and with single and double excitations from all reference determinants in the CC operator developed in our group. The method is called CASCCSD. The energy and amplitude equations for the method and the corresponding computer code have been generated using a computerized automative procedure that in the present work was extended to produce a parallel computer code. The complete CASCCSD wave function for N2 includes some selected eight-fold excitations in the CC operator. An analysis of the wave function estimates the importance of those excitations at large internuclear separations.

Potential energy curves via double electron-attachment calculations: Dissociation of alkali metal dimers

The recently developed method [M. Musiał, J. Chem. Phys. 136, 134111 (2012)] to study double electron attached states has been applied to the description of the ground and excited state potential energy curves of the alkali metal dimers. The method is based on the multireference coupled cluster scheme formulated within the Fock space formalism for the (2,0) sector. Due to the use of the efficient intermediate Hamiltonian formulation, the approach is free from the intruder states problem. The description of the neutral alkali metal dimers is accomplished via attaching two electrons to the corresponding doubly ionized system. This way is particularly advantageous when a closed shell molecule dissociates into open shell subunits while its doubly positive cation generates the closed shell fragments. In the current work, we generate the potential energy curves for the ground and multiple excited states of the Li2 and Na2 molecules. In all cases the potential energy curves are smooth for the entire range of interatomic distances (from the equilibrium point to the dissociation limit). Based on the calculated potential energy curves, we are able to compute spectroscopic parameters of the systems studied.

Excited states in the multireference state-specific coupled-cluster theory with the complete active space reference.

The recently proposed multireference state-specific coupled-cluster theory with the complete active space reference has been used to study electronically excited states with different spatial and spin symmetries. The algorithm for the method has been obtained using the computerized approach for automatic generation of coupled-cluster diagrams with an arbitrary level of the electronic excitation from a formal reference determinant. The formal reference is also used to generate the genuine reference state in the form of a linear combination of determinants contracted to a configuration with the spin and spatial symmetries of the target state. The natural-orbital expansions of the one-electron configuration inferaction density matrix allowed us to obtain the most compact orbital space for the expansion of the reference function. We applied our approach in the calculations of singlet and triplet states of different spatial symmetries of the water molecule. The comparisons of the results with values obtained using other many-particle methods and with the full configuration interaction results demonstrate good ability of the approach to deal with electronic excited states.

New indices for describing the multi-configurational nature of the coupled cluster wave function

New cumulative indices which describe the configurational structure and the degree of ‘multi-configurationality’ of the coupled cluster (CC) wave function have been proposed and tested on some model systems. The indices calculated for the coupled cluster wave functions generated with the CCSD (single and double excitations) and CCSDT (single, double, and triple excitations) models were compared with the corresponding values obtained with the full configuration interaction (FCI) method. The test calculations have concerned cases where the multi-reference character of the wave function increases due to bond stretching.

The equation-of-motion coupled cluster method for triple electron attached states.

The initial implementation of the triple electron attachment (TEA) equation-of-motion (EOM) coupled cluster (CC) method is presented, aiming at the description of electronic states with three open shell electrons outside a suitably chosen closed shell vacuum. In particular, such an approach can be used for describing dissociation of chemical bonds predominantly formed by three valence electrons, for example, in LiC and NaC molecules. Both ground and excited states are considered while rigorously maintaining the correct spin value. The preliminary results show a correct asymptotic behavior of the dissociation curves. At the same time, we emphasize that a chemically accurate description will require an extension of the minimal TEA-EOM-CC model introduced here, analogous to those already used in the double ionization potential and double electron attachment methods.

Algebraic connectivity analysis in molecular electronic structure theory II: total exponential formulation of second-quantised correlated methods

The fundamentality of the exponential representation of a second-quantised correlated wave function is emphasised with an accent on the physical sense of cluster amplitudes as cumulants of the correlated ansatz. Three main wave function formalisms, namely, the configuration-interaction theory, the coupled-cluster approach, and the many-body perturbation theory (as well as their extensions, e.g. the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster method, multireference schemes, etc.), are represented in an exponential form, leading to a formulation of the working equations in terms of cluster amplitudes. By expressing the corresponding many-body tensor equations in terms of cluster amplitudes, we could unambiguously check connectivity types and the asymptotic behaviour of all tensors/scalars involved (in the formal limit of an infinite number of correlated particles). In particular, the appearance of disconnected cluster amplitudes corresponds to unphysical correlations. Besides, we demonstrate that the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster approach, as well as certain excited-state configuration-interaction methods, can be recast in a fully connected (exponential) form, thus breaking the common belief that all truncated configuration-interaction methods violate connectivity. Our work is based on the recently developed algebraic framework which can be viewed as a complement to the classical diagrammatic analysis.

Algebraic connectivity analysis in molecular electronic structure theory I: coulomb potential, tensor connectivity, ε-approximation

In this (first) paper we attempt to generalize the notion of tensor connectivity, subsequently studying how this property is affected in different tensorial operations. We show that the often implied corollary of the linked diagram theorem, namely individual size-extensivity of arbitrary connected closed diagrams, can be violated in Coulomb systems. In particular, the assumption of the existence of localized Hartree–Fock orbitals is generally incompatible with the individual size-extensivity of connected closed diagrams when the interaction tensor is generated by the true two-body part of the electronic Hamiltonian. Thus, in general, size-extensivity of a many-body method may originate in specific cancellations of super-extensive quantities, breaking the convenient one-to-one correspondence between the connectivity of arbitrary many-body equations and the size-extensivity of the expectation values evaluated by those equations (for example, when certain diagrams are discarded from the method). Nevertheless, assuming that many-body equations are evaluated for a stable many-particle system, it is possible to introduce a workaround, called the ε-approximation, which restores the individual size-extensivity of an arbitrary connected closed diagram, without qualitatively affecting the asymptotic behavior of the computed expectation values. No assumptions concerning the periodicity of the system and its strict electrical neutrality are made.

Discontinuities-free complete-active-space state–specific multi–reference coupled cluster theory for describing bond stretching and dissociation

The earlier proposed multi-reference state-specific coupled-cluster theory with the complete active space reference [CASCC; Lyakh et al., J. Chem. Phys. 122, 024108 (2005)] suffered from a problem of energy discontinuities when the formal reference state was changing in the calculation of the potential energy curve (PEC). A simple remedy to the discontinuity problem is found and is presented in this work. It involves using natural complete active space self-consistent field active orbitals in the complete active space coupled-cluster calculations. The approach gives smooth PECs for different types of dissociation problems, as illustrated in the calculations of the dissociation of the single bond in the hydrogen fluorine molecule and of the symmetric double-bond dissociation in the water molecule.

Electronic Excited States in the State-Specific Multireference Coupled Cluster Theory with a Complete-Active-Space Reference

The multireference state specific coupled cluster theory with CAS reference (CASCCSD) is generalized for calculations of electronically excited states. Test calculations have demonstrated high effectivity of the approach in comparison with other approximate approaches and with the full configuration interaction method.

A remark on the disconnected nature of Lagrange equations in the context of a linear-scaling implementation of the coupled-cluster energy gradients

It is known that the Λ-tensor (an array of Lagrange multipliers), necessary for evaluating analytic energy gradients in the coupled-cluster theory, is diagrammatically disconnected in general. This means that the number of non-negligible elements in the Λ-tensor grows faster than linearly with the number of calculated particles. At a formal level, when evaluating the gradients of the coupled-cluster energy, this could prevent obtaining a linear scaling of the operational cost with respect to the number of correlated particles. It is shown that in ground/excited-state coupled-cluster calculations, based on localized orbitals, the disconnected part of the Λ-tensor, as well as the disconnected part of the left-hand excited-state eigenvector, can be ignored, thus justifying the use of standard screening techniques employed in linear-scaling schemes.