Corrected Hartree-Fock functionals

Cohen AJ, Baerends EJ (2002) Variational density matrix functional calculations for the corrected Hartree and corrected Hartree-Fock functionals, Chem. Phys. Lett, 364 409—419... 

We now consider the theoretical calculation of excited-state wave functions. This is more difficult than ground-state calculations because we are dealing with open-shell configurations. The Hartree-Fock equations for a state of an open-shell configuration have a more complicated form than for closed shells, and there exist close to a dozen different approaches to excited-state Hartree-Fock calculations. As noted earlier, the Hartree-Fock wave function for a closed-shell state is a single determinant, but for open-shell states, we may have to take a linear combination of a few Slater determinants to get a Hartree-Fock function that is an eigenfunction of S and Sz and has the correct spatial symmetry. 

This leads lu a very bad description of the H2 molecule at long iiiicinuclcai disianecs with the Haitree-Fock method. Indeed, for long internuclear distances, the Heitler-London function should dominate, because it corresponds to the (correct) dissociation limit (two ground-state hydrogen atoms). The trouble is that with fixed coefficients, the Hartree-Fock function overestimates the role of the ionic structure for long interatomic distances. Fig. 10.5 shows that the Heitler-London function describes the electron correlation (Coulomb hole), whereas the Haitree-Fock function does not. 

From the Slater rules it is easy to estimate that the only non-vanishing terms will arise from the double spin-orbital exchange in the wave function. The intuitive statement that the low-order corrections should have the larger impact and the above considerations lead to the most important accomplishment of this section the largest contribution to the corrections of the Hartree-Fock function arises from the functions with the doubly exchanged spin-orbitals. 

The Hartree-Fock wave function is often used in qualitative studies of molecular systems, particularly larger systems. Indeed, the Hartree-Fock wave function is still the only wave function that can be applied routinely to large systems, and systems containing several hundred atoms have been studied at this level of approximation. For accurate, quantitative studies of molecular systems, the Hartree-Fock wave function is by itself not useful but it constitutes the starting point for more accurate treatments. The nonvariational Mdller-Plesset and coupled-cluster approaches, for example, are both based on the premise that the Hartree-Fock function represents a good zero-order approximation to the true wave function and may in fact be viewed as yielding corrections to the Hartree-Fock state. 

The application of density functional theory to isolated, organic molecules is still in relative infancy compared with the use of Hartree-Fock methods. There continues to be a steady stream of publications designed to assess the performance of the various approaches to DFT. As we have discussed there is a plethora of ways in which density functional theory can be implemented with different functional forms for the basis set (Gaussians, Slater type orbitals, or numerical), different expressions for the exchange and correlation contributions within the local density approximation, different expressions for the gradient corrections and different ways to solve the Kohn-Sham equations to achieve self-consistency. This contrasts with the situation for Hartree-Fock calculations, wlrich mostly use one of a series of tried and tested Gaussian basis sets and where there is a substantial body of literature to help choose the most appropriate method for incorporating post-Hartree-Fock methods, should that be desired. 

The second approximation in HF calculations is due to the fact that the wave function must be described by some mathematical function, which is known exactly for only a few one-electron systems. The functions used most often are linear combinations of Gaussian-type orbitals exp(—nr ), abbreviated GTO. The wave function is formed from linear combinations of atomic orbitals or, stated more correctly, from linear combinations of basis functions. Because of this approximation, most HF calculations give a computed energy greater than the Hartree-Fock limit. The exact set of basis functions used is often specified by an abbreviation, such as STO—3G or 6—311++g. Basis sets are discussed further in Chapters 10 and 28. 

A more complex set of functionals utilizes the electron density and its gradient. These are called gradient-corrected methods. There are also hybrid methods that combine functionals from other methods with pieces of a Hartree-Fock calculation, usually the exchange integrals. 

It is a well-known fact that the Hartree-Fock model does not describe bond dissociation correctly. For example, the H2 molecule will dissociate to an H+ and an atom rather than two H atoms as the bond length is increased. Other methods will dissociate to the correct products however, the difference in energy between the molecule and its dissociated parts will not be correct. There are several different reasons for these problems size-consistency, size-extensivity, wave function construction, and basis set superposition error. 

There are several ways to include relativity in ah initio calculations more efficiently at the expense of a bit of accuracy. One popular technique is the Dirac-Hartree-Fock technique, which includes the one-electron relativistic terms. Another option is computing energy corrections to the nonrelativistic wave function without changing that wave function. 

The ab initio methods used by most investigators include Hartree-Fock (FFF) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) [6, 7]. An ab initio method typically uses one of many basis sets for the solution of a particular problem. These basis sets are discussed in considerable detail in references [1] and [8]. DFT is based on the proof that the ground state electronic energy is determined completely by the electron density [9]. Thus, there is a direct relationship between electron density and the energy of a system. DFT calculations are extremely popular, as they provide reliable molecular structures and are considerably faster than FFF methods where correlation corrections (MP2) are included. Although intermolecular interactions in ion-pairs are dominated by dispersion interactions, DFT (B3LYP) theory lacks this term [10-14]. FFowever, DFT theory is quite successful in representing molecular structure, which is usually a primary concern. 

In the Hartree-Fock approach, the many-body wave function in form of a Slater determinant plays the key role in the theory. For instance, the Hartree-Fock equations are derived by minimization of the total energy expressed in terms of this determinantal wave function. In density functional theory (3,4), the fundamental role is taken over by an observable quantity, the electron density. An important theorem of density functional theory states that the correct ground state density, n(r), determines rigorously all electronic properties of the system, in particular its total energy. The totd energy of a system can be expressed as a functional of the density n (r) and this functional, E[n (r)], is minimized by the ground state density. 

As a final comment, it is interesting to note that this FS(K) study of the hydrogen molecule offers a new and simple illustration of the behavior of sophisticated Hartree-Fock schemes like UHF, PHF and EHF. Furthermore, it provides a very efficient numerical example of instabilities in the standard Hartree-Fock method. It is important to see that the UHF, PHF and EHF schemes all correct the wrong RHF behavior and lead to the correct dissociation limit. However, the UHF and PHF schemes only correct the wave function for large enough interatomic distances and the effect of projection in the PHF scheme even results in a spurious minimum. The EHF scheme is thus the only one which shows a lowering of the energy with respect to RHF for all interatomic distances. 

In his pioneering work Baetzold used the Hartree-Fock (HF) method for quantum mechanical calculations for the cluster structure (the details are summarized in Reference 33). The value of the HF procedure is that it yields the best possible single-determinant wave function, which in turn should give correct values for expectation values of single-particle operators such as electric moments and... 

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