Local-density-approximation calculations

Fig. 3.12 The binding energies, equilibrium internuclear separations and vibrational frequencies across the first-row diatomic molecules. Note the good agreement between the self-consistent local density approximation calculations and experiment for R and coe but the larger systematic error of up to 2 eV for the binding energy. (After Gunnarsson et aL (1977).)...

We digress briefly to mention another aspect of Aig phonons in YBa2Cu307. Local density approximation calculations have consistently predicted that the two low-frequency... 

Figure 6.30. The relationship between the superconducting transition temperature and the cubic lattice constants oq of A3C60 (A = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs and their mixtures) salts over a wide range of uq. Data indicated by open and solid circles are experimental data. The open triangles and squares are the relationships for K3C60 and RbsC o obtained by high pressure experiments and the broken line is the Tc-Oq relationship expected from the simple BCS theory using A Ef values by LDA (Local Density Approximation) calculations. (Reproduced by permission from ref 198.)...

Figure Cl. 1.6. Minimum energy stmctures for neutral Si clusters ( = 12-20) calculated using density functional theory witli tire local density approximation. Cohesive energies per atom are indicated. Note tire two nearly degenerate stmctures of Si g. Ho K M, Shvartsburg A A, Pan B, Lu Z Y, Wang C Z, Wacher J G, Fye J L and Jarrold M F 1998 Nature 392 582, figure 2.

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 simplest approximation to the complete problem is one based only on the electron density, called a local density approximation (LDA). For high-spin systems, this is called the local spin density approximation (LSDA). LDA calculations have been widely used for band structure calculations. Their performance is less impressive for molecular calculations, where both qualitative and quantitative errors are encountered. For example, bonds tend to be too short and too strong. In recent years, LDA, LSDA, and VWN (the Vosko, Wilks, and Nusair functional) have become synonymous in the literature. 

A second calculation was done for a two-layer tubule using density functional theory in the local density approximation to establish the optimum interlayer distance between an inner (5,5) armchair tubule and an outer armchair (10,10) tubule. The result of this calculation yielded a 3.39 A interlayer separation... 

The electronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes have been studied theoretically using different methods[4-12. It is found that if n — wr is a multiple of 3, the nanotube will be metallic otherwise, it wiU exhibit a semiconducting behavior. Calculations on a 2D array of identical armchair nanotubes with parallel tube axes within the local density approximation framework indicate that a crystal with a hexagonal packing of the tubes is most stable, and that intertubule interactions render the system semiconducting with a zero energy gap[35]. 

Theoretical calculations were performed with the linear muffin tin orbital (LMTO) method and the local density approximation for exchange and correlation. This method was used in combination with supercell models containing up to 16 atoms to calculate the DOS. The LMTO calculations are run self consistently and the DOS obtained are combined with the matrix elements for the transitions from initial to final states as described in detail elsewhere (Botton et al., 1996a) according to the method described by Vvedensky (1992). A comparison is also made between spectra calculated for some of the B2 compounds using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) method. 

Our work demonstrates that EELS and in particular the combination of this technique with first principles electronic structure calculations are very powerful methods to study the bonding character in intermetallic alloys and study the alloying effects of ternary elements on the electronic structure. Our success in modelling spectra indicates the validity of our methodology of calculating spectra using the local density approximation and the single particle approach. 

The local density approximation is highly successful and has been used in density functional calculations for many years now. There were several difficulties in implementing better approximations, but in 1991 Perdew et al. successfully parametrised a potential known as the generalised gradient approximation (GGA) which expresses the exchange and correlation potential as a function of both the local density and its gradient ... 

Beyond the local-density approximation in calculations of Compton profiles... 

Generally, all band theoretical calculations of momentum densities are based on the local-density approximation (LDA) [1] of density functional theory (DFT) [2], The LDA-based band theory can explain qualitatively the characteristics of overall shape and fine structures of the observed Compton profiles (CPs). However, the LDA calculation yields CPs which are higher than the experimental CPs at small momenta and lower at large momenta. Furthermore, the LDA computation always produces more pronounced fine structures which originate in the Fermi surface geometry and higher momentum components than those found in the experiments [3-5]. 

Hamada, N. and Ohnishi, S. (1986) Self-interaction correction to the local-density approximation in the calculation of the energy band gaps of semiconductors based on the full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave method, Phys. Rev., B34,9042-9044. 

Density-functional theory, developed 25 years ago (Hohenberg and Kohn, 1964 Kohn and Sham, 1965) has proven very successful for the study of a wide variety of problems in solid state physics (for a review, see Martin, 1985). Interactions (beyond the Hartree potential) between electrons are described with an exchange and correlation potential, which is expressed as a functional of the charge density. For practical purposes, this functional needs to be approximated. The local-density approximation (LDA), in which the exchange and correlation potential at a particular point is only a function of the charge density at that same point, has been extensively tested and found to provide a reliable description of a wide variety of solid-state properties. Choices of numerical cutoff parameters or integration schemes that have to be made at various points in the density-functional calculations are all amenable to explicit covergence tests. 

The inherent problems associated with the computation of the properties of solids have been reduced by a computational technique called Density Functional Theory. This approach to the calculation of the properties of solids again stems from solid-state physics. In Hartree-Fock equations the N electrons need to be specified by 3/V variables, indicating the position of each electron in space. The density functional theory replaces these with just the electron density at a point, specified by just three variables. In the commonest formalism of the theory, due to Kohn and Sham, called the local density approximation (LDA), noninteracting electrons move in an effective potential that is described in terms of a uniform electron gas. Density functional theory is now widely used for many chemical calculations, including the stabilities and bulk properties of solids, as well as defect formation energies and configurations in materials such as silicon, GaN, and Agl. At present, the excited states of solids are not well treated in this way. 

The local density approximation (LDA)24 is often used to calculate Exc[n and Vxc(r). The LDA uses as input the exchange-correlation energy of an electron gas of constant density. In a homogeneous system the exchange energy per particle is known exactly and it has the expression... 

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