Hartree-Fock theory single-reference methods

In the self-consistent field linear response method [25,46,48] also known as random phase approximation (RPA) [49] or first order polarization propagator approximation [25,46], which is equivalent to the coupled Hartree-Fock theory [50], the reference state is approximated by the Hartree-Fock self-consistent field wavefunction < scf) and the set of operators /i j consists of single excitation and de-excitation operators with respect to orbital rotation operators [51],... 

Perturbation methods are size consistent in other words, they lead to total energies that scale linearly with the size of the system. However, they have drawbacks. First, their energies are not upper bounds to the exact energy of the system (because the energy expression is not of the expectation value form). Second, the wavefunction is expressed in terms of corrections to a presumed dominant reference function of a single determinant. Therefore, when Hartree-Fock theory presents a major problem, MP2 may not be an appropriate method of rectification. For further discussion of post-Hartree-Fock methods, see, for example, a recent, excellent review by Bartlett and Stanton. 

In words, singly excited states do not interact with the HF ground state the corresponding matrix element of the Hamiltonian is zero. This famous theorem (Brillouin 1933) plays an important role in the Hartree-Fock theory as well as in more sophisticated methods based on a Hartree-Fock reference state. It can be shown that Eq. (11.1) is a necessary and sufficient condition for to be the exact... 

If we except the Density Functional Theory and Coupled Clusters treatments (see, for example, reference [1] and references therein), the Configuration Interaction (Cl) and the Many-Body-Perturbation-Theory (MBPT) [2] approaches are the most widely-used methods to deal with the correlation problem in computational chemistry. The MBPT approach based on an HF-SCF (Hartree-Fock Self-Consistent Field) single reference taking RHF (Restricted Hartree-Fock) [3] or UHF (Unrestricted Hartree-Fock ) orbitals [4-6] has been particularly developed, at various order of perturbation n, leading to the widespread MPw or UMPw treatments when a Moller-Plesset (MP) partition of the electronic Hamiltonian is considered [7]. The implementation of such methods in various codes and the large distribution of some of them as black boxes make the MPn theories a common way for the non-specialist to tentatively include, with more or less relevancy, correlation effects in the calculations. 

Establishing a hierarchy of rapidly converging, generally applicable, systematic approximations of exact electronic wave functions is the holy grail of electronic structure theory [1]. The basis of these approximations is the Hartree-Fock (HF) method, which defines a simple noncorrelated reference wave function consisting of a single Slater determinant (an antisymmetrized product of orbitals). To introduce electron correlation into the description, the wave function is expanded as a combination of the reference and excited Slater determinants obtained by promotion of one, two, or more electrons into vacant virtual orbitals. The approximate wave functions thus defined are characterized by the manner of the expansion (linear, nonlinear), the maximum excitation rank, and by the size of one-electron basis used to represent the orbitals. 

M. Urban, P. Neogrady, and I. Hubac, Spin Adaptation in the Open-Shell Coupled-Cluster Theory with a Single Determinant Restricted Hartree-Fock Reference. In R. J. Bartlett (Ed.) Recent Advances in Coupled-Cluster Methods. Recent Advances in Computational Chemistry, Vol. 3. (World Scientific, Singapore, 1997), pp. 275-306. 

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