Variational approach configuration interaction

Wlien first proposed, density llinctional theory was not widely accepted in the chemistry conununity. The theory is not rigorous in the sense that it is not clear how to improve the estimates for the ground-state energies. For wavefiinction-based methods, one can include more Slater detenuinants as in a configuration interaction approach. As the wavellmctions improve via the variational theorem, the energy is lowered. In density fiinctional theory, there is no... 

The idea of coupling variational and perturbational methods is nowadays gaining wider and wider acceptance in the quantum chemistry community. The background philosophy is to realize the best blend of a well-defined theoretical plateau provided by the application of the variational principle coupled to the computational efficiency of the perturbation techniques. [29-34]. In that sense, the aim of these approaches is to improve a limited Configuration Interaction (Cl) wavefunction by a perturbation treatment. 

Starting from the normal mode approximation, one can introduce anharmonicity in different ways. Anharmonic perturbation theory [206] and local mode models [204] may be useful in some cases, where anharmonic effects are small or mostly diagonal. Vibrational self-consistent-field and configuration-interaction treatments [207, 208] can also be powerful and offer a hierarchy of approximation levels. Even more rigorous multidimensional treatments include variational calculations [209], diffusion quantum Monte Carlo, and time-dependent Hartree approaches [210]. 

There are essentially two different quantum mechanical approaches to approximately solve the Schrodinger equation. One approach is perturbation theory, which will be described in a different set of lectures, and the other is the variational method. The configuration interaction equations are derived using the variational method. Here, one starts out by writing the energy as a functional F of the approximate wavefunction ip>... 

Thus the one-particle basis determines the MOs, which in turn determine the JV-particle basis. If the one-paxticle basis were complete, it would at least in principle be possible to form a complete jV-particle basis, and hence to obtain an exact wave function variationally. This wave function is sometimes referred to as the complete Cl wave function. However, a complete one-paxticle basis would be of infinite dimension, so the one-paxticle basis must be truncated in practical applications. In that case, the iV-particle basis will necessarily be incomplete, but if all possible iV-paxticle basis functions axe included we have a full Cl wave function. Unfortunately, the factorial dependence of the iV-paxticle basis size on the one-particle basis size makes most full Cl calculations impracticably large. We must therefore commonly use truncated jV-paxticle spaces that axe constructed from truncated one-paxticle spaces. These two truncations, JV-particle and one-particle, are the most important sources of uncertainty in quantum chemical calculations, and it is with these approximations that we shall be mostly concerned in this course. We conclude this section by pointing out that while the analysis so fax has involved a configuration-interaction approach to solving Eq. 1.2, the same iV-particle and one-particle space truncation problems arise in non-vaxiational methods, as will be discussed in detail in subsequent chapters. 

Many-body calculations which go beyond the Hartree-Fock model can be performed in two ways, i.e. using either a variational or a perturbational procedure. There are a number of variational methods which account for correlation effects superposition-of-configurations (or configuration interaction (Cl)), random phase approximation with exchange, method of incomplete separation of variables, multi-configuration Hartree-Fock (MCHF) approach, etc. However, to date only Cl and MCHF methods and some simple versions of perturbation theory are practically exploited for theoretical studies of many-electron atoms and ions. 

An early example implementing the general approach to take into account first the intrabond correlation, is presented by the PCILO - perturbational configuration interaction of localized orbitals method [121,122], As one of its authors, J.-P. Malrieu mentions in [122], the PCILO method opposes the majority of the QC methods in all the fundamental concepts. In contrast to the majority of the methods based on the variational principle, the PCILO method is based on estimating the energy by perturbation theory. Also, the majority of the QC methods use one-electron HFR approximation, at least as an intermediate construct, whereas the PCILO is claimed to addresses directly the V-electron wave function and takes into account all surviving matrix elements of the electron-electron interactions. In contrast with other QC... 

The complete description of hydrogen bond and van der Waals interactions requires of course the inclusion of electron correlation effects however, almost always, a very useful starting point for subsequent refinements is represented by a Hartree-Fock description, which serves as the basis for both perturbation theory and variational configuration interaction approaches to the treatment of electron correlation. 

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