Density functional theory spin-orbit effects

Keywords Spin-orbit interaction Density functional theory Spin-orbit DFT Effective core potential approach... 

Vaara, J., Malkina, O.L., Stoll, H., Malkin, V.G. and Kaupp, M. (2001) Study of relativistic effects on nuclear shieldings using density-functional theory and spin-orbit pseudopotentials. Journal of Chemical Physics, 114, 61-71. 

On the other hand, high-level computational methods are limited, for obvious reasons, to very simple systems.122 Calculations are likely to have limited accuracy due to basis set effects, relativistic contributions, and spin orbit corrections, especially in the case of tin hydrides, but these concerns can be addressed. Given the computational economy of density functional theories and the excellent behavior of the hybrid-DFT B3LYP123 already demonstrated for calculations of radical energies,124 we anticipate good progress in the theoretical approach. We hope that this collection serves as a reference for computational work that we are certain will be forthcoming. 

Computation of the spin-orbit contribution to the electronic g-tensor shift can in principle be carried out using linear density functional response theory, however, one needs to introduce an efficient approximation of the two-electron spin-orbit operator, which formally can not be described in density functional theory. One way to solve this problem is to introduce the atomic mean-field (AMEI) approximation of the spin-orbit operator, which is well known for its accurate description of the spin-orbit interaction in molecules containing heavy atoms. Another two-electron operator appears in the first order diamagnetic two-electron contribution to the g-tensor shift, but in most molecules the contribution of this operator is negligible and can be safely omitted from actual calculations. These approximations have effectively resolved the DET dilemma of dealing with two-electron operators and have so allowed to take a practical approach to evaluate electronic g-tensors in DET. Conventionally, DET calculations of this kind are based on the unrestricted... 

Calculating xw within the framework of plain spin density functional theory (SDFT), there is no modification of the electronic potential due to the induced orbital magnetization. Working instead within the more appropriate current density functional theory, however, there would be a correction to the exchange correlation potential just as in the case of the spin susceptibility giving rise to a Stoner-like enhancement. Alternatively, this effect can be accounted for by adopting Brooks s orbital polarization formalism (Brooks 1985). 

With the exception of Ligand Field Theory, where the inclusion of atomic spin-orbit coupling is easy, a complete molecular treatment of relativity is difficult although not impossible. The work of Ellis within the Density Functional Theory DVXa framework is notable in this regard [132]. At a less rigorous level, it is relatively straightforward to develop a partial relativistic treatment. The most popular approach is to modify the potential of the core electrons to mimic the potential appropriate to the relativistically treated atom. This represents a specific use of so-called Effective Core Potentials (ECPs). Using ECPs reduces the numbers of electrons to be included explicitly in the calculation and hence reduces the execution time. Relativistic ECPs within the Hartree-Fock approximation [133] are available for all three transition series. A comparable frozen core approximation [134] scheme has been adopted for... 

Earlier it was mentioned that the relativistic theory of electronic states in solids in many respects is identical to that of atoms. Since this is well described elsewhere, this section will only deal with some features of specific implementations of the theory in actual calculation methods used for solids, and the importance of relativistic effects — apart from those already discussed — will be illustrated by examples. Although Section 3 did refer to results of LMTO calculations, we did not describe how these included relativity. This section will deal with these items in the form of an overview, and the basic band structure calculations described relate to the density-functional theory [62,63]. Since magnetism is one of the most important solid state physics fields we shall discuss the simultaneous inclusion of spin-polarization and relativistic effects, in particular the spin-orbit coupling. In that context it appears that several of the materials where such effects are particularly large and interesting are those where electron... 

SOCI spin-orbit configuration interaction SOFT second-order perturbation theory SOREP spin-orbit relativistic effective potential TD-DFT time dependent density functional theory ZORA zero-order regular approximation... 

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