Showing papers on "Ab initio quantum chemistry methods published in 2014"

Computational Study of Metal Contacts to Monolayer Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Semiconductors

Abstract: Modern electronics rely on semiconductors such as silicon. Researchers show how a new class of semiconductors---monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides---can be optimized to improve device performance.

The individual and collective effects of exact exchange and dispersion interactions on the ab initio structure of liquid water

Abstract: In this work, we report the results of a series of density functional theory (DFT) based ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations of ambient liquid water using a hierarchy of exchange-correlation (XC) functionals to investigate the individual and collective effects of exact exchange (Exx), via the PBE0 hybrid functional, non-local van der Waals/dispersion (vdW) interactions, via a fully self-consistent density-dependent dispersion correction, and an approximate treatment of nuclear quantum effects, via a 30 K increase in the simulation temperature, on the microscopic structure of liquid water. Based on these AIMD simulations, we found that the collective inclusion of Exx and vdW as resulting from a large-scale AIMD simulation of (H2O)128 significantly softens the structure of ambient liquid water and yields an oxygen-oxygen structure factor, SOO(Q), and corresponding oxygen-oxygen radial distribution function, gOO(r), that are now in quantitative agreement with the best available experimental data. This level of agreement between simulation and experiment demonstrated herein originates from an increase in the relative population of water molecules in the interstitial region between the first and second coordination shells, a collective reorganization in the liquid phase which is facilitated by a weakening of the hydrogen bond strength by the use of a hybrid XC functional, coupled with a relative stabilization of the resultant disordered liquid water configurations by the inclusion of non-local vdW/dispersion interactions. This increasingly more accurate description of the underlying hydrogen bond network in liquid water also yields higher-order correlation functions, such as the oxygen-oxygen-oxygen triplet angular distribution, POOO(θ), and therefore the degree of local tetrahedrality, as well as electrostatic properties, such as the effective molecular dipole moment, that are in much better agreement with experiment.

Ab initio theory of moiré superlattice bands in layered two-dimensional materials

Abstract: When atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials are layered, they often form incommensurate noncrystalline structures that exhibit long-period moir\'e patterns when examined by scanning probes. In this paper, we present an approach that uses information obtained from ab initio calculations performed on short-period crystalline structures to derive effective Hamiltonians that are able to efficiently describe the influence of the moir\'e pattern superlattices on electronic properties. We apply our approach to the cases of graphene on graphene (G/G) and graphene on hexagonal boron nitride (G/BN), deriving explicit effective Hamiltonians that have the periodicity of the moir\'e pattern and can be used to calculate electronic properties of interest for arbitrary twist angles and lattice constants.

Electronic couplings for molecular charge transfer: benchmarking CDFT, FODFT, and FODFTB against high-level ab initio calculations.

Abstract: We introduce a database (HAB11) of electronic coupling matrix elements (Hab) for electron transfer in 11 π-conjugated organic homo-dimer cations. High-level ab inito calculations at the multireference configuration interaction MRCI+Q level of theory, n-electron valence state perturbation theory NEVPT2, and (spin-component scaled) approximate coupled cluster model (SCS)-CC2 are reported for this database to assess the performance of three DFT methods of decreasing computational cost, including constrained density functional theory (CDFT), fragment-orbital DFT (FODFT), and self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding (FODFTB). We find that the CDFT approach in combination with a modified PBE functional containing 50% Hartree-Fock exchange gives best results for absolute Hab values (mean relative unsigned error = 5.3%) and exponential distance decay constants β (4.3%). CDFT in combination with pure PBE overestimates couplings by 38.7% due to a too diffuse excess charge distribution, whereas the ec...

Electronic structure and slow magnetic relaxation of low-coordinate cyclic alkyl(amino) carbene stabilized iron(I) complexes.

Abstract: Cyclic alkyl(amino) carbene stabilized two- and three-coordinate Fe(I) complexes, (cAAC)2FeCl (2) and [(cAAC)2Fe][B(C6F5)4] (3), respectively, were prepared and thoroughly studied by a bouquet of analytical techniques as well as theoretical calculations. Magnetic susceptibility and Mossbauer spectroscopy reveal the +1 oxidation state and S = 3/2 spin ground state of iron in both compounds. 2 and 3 show slow magnetic relaxation typical for single molecule magnets under an applied direct current magnetic field. The high-frequency EPR measurements confirm the S = 3/2 ground state with a large, positive zero-field splitting (∼20.4 cm(-1)) and reveal easy plane anisotropy for compound 2. CASSCF/CASPT2/RASSI-SO ab initio calculations using the MOLCAS program package support the experimental results.

Ab Initio Calculations of Band Gaps and Absolute Band Positions of Polymorphs of RbPbI3 and CsPbI3: Implications for Main-Group Halide Perovskite Photovoltaics

Abstract: Lead halide perovskites have attracted great interest because of rapid improvements in the efficiency of photovoltaics based on these materials. To predict new related functional materials, a good understanding of the correlations between crystal chemistry, electronic structure, and optoelectronic properties is required. Describing the electronic structure of these materials using density functional theory provides a choice of exchange-correlation functionals, including hybrid functionals, and inclusion of spin-orbit coupling, which is critical for the correct description of band gap and absolute band positions (ionization energy). Here, various computational schemes that employ different choices of exchange-correlation and hybrid functionals, and include or exclude spin-orbit coupling were implemented to examine these effects. Using PbI2 as an initial structural model, it is found that standard exchange correlation functionals (PBE) in conjunction with spin-orbit coupling suffice to locate ionization ene...

Electronic structure of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers from ab initio theory

Abstract: By means of first-principles GW calculations, we have studied the electronic structure properties of MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) bilayers, including hybrid structures of MX2 building blocks. The effect of spin-orbit coupling on the electronic structure and the effect of van der Waals interaction on the geometry were taken into account. All the homogeneous bilayers are identified as indirect band-gap materials, with an increase of the band gap when Mo is changed to W, and a decrease of the band gap when the atomic number of X is increased. The same behavior is also observed for hybrid bilayers with common chalcogen atoms, while bilayers with common metal atoms have a direct band gap. Finally, it is shown that due to their particular band alignment, some heterobilayers enable electron-hole separation, which is of interest for solar cell applications.

The X–C···π (X = F, Cl, Br, CN) Carbon Bond

Abstract: High-level ab initio calculations have been used to study the interactions between the CH3 group of CH3X (X = F, Cl, Br, CN) molecules and π-electrons. These interactions are important because of the abundance of both the CH3 groups and π-electrons in biological systems. Complexes between C2H4/C2H2 and CH3X molecules have been used as model systems. Various theoretical methods such as atoms in molecules theory, reduced density gradient analysis, and natural bond orbital analysis have been used to discern these interactions. These analyses show that the interaction of the π-electrons with the CH3X molecules leads to the formation of X–C···π carbon bonds. Similar complexes with other tetrel molecules, SiH3X and GeH3X, have also been considered.

Ab initio calculations of SrTiO3, BaTiO3, PbTiO3, CaTiO3, SrZrO3, PbZrO3 and BaZrO3 (001), (011) and (111) surfaces as well as F centers, polarons, KTN solid solutions and Nb impurities therein

Abstract: In this paper, the review of recent results of calculations of surface relaxations, energetics, and bonding properties for ABO3 perovskite (001), (011) and (111) surfaces using mostly a hybrid description of exchange and correlation is presented. Both AO and BO2-terminations of the nonpolar (001) surface and A, BO, and O terminations of the polar (011) surface, as well as B and AO3-terminations of the polar (111) surface were considered. On the AO-terminated (001) surface, all upper-layer A atoms relax inwards, while all second layer atoms relax outwards. For the BO2-terminated (001) surface, in most cases, the largest relaxations are on the second-layer metal atoms. For almost all ABO3 perovskites, the surface rumpling is much larger for the AO-terminated than for the BO2-terminated (001) surface, but their surface energies are always quite similar. In contrast, different terminations of the (011) ABO3 surface lead to very different surface energies for the O-terminated, A-terminated, and BO-terminated (011) surface, respectively. A considerable increase in the Ti–O or Zr–O, respectively, chemical bond covalency near the (011) surface as compared both to the bulk and to the (001) surface in ABO3 perovskites were predicted. According to the results of ab initio calculations for Nb doped SrTiO3, Nb is a shallow donor; six nearest O ions are slightly displaced outwards from the Nb ion. The F center in ABO3 perovskites resembles electron defects in the partially-covalent SiO2 crystal rather than usual F centers in ionic crystals like MgO and alkali halides. The results of calculations for several perovskite KNbxTa1-xO3 (KTN) solid solutions, as well as hole and electron polarons in ABO3 perovskites are analyzed.

Structural stability and thermodynamics of CrN magnetic phases from ab initio calculations and experiment

Abstract: The dynamical and thermodynamic phase stabilities of the stoichiometric compound CrN including different structural and magnetic configurations are comprehensively investigated using a first-principles density functional theory (DFT) plus $U$ ($\mathrm{DFT}+U$) approach in conjunction with experimental measurements of the thermal expansion. Comparing DFT and $\mathrm{DFT}+U$ results with experimental data reveals that the treatment of electron correlations using methods beyond standard DFT is crucial. The nonmagnetic face-centered cubic B1-CrN phase is both elastically and dynamically unstable, even under high pressure, while CrN phases with nonzero local magnetic moments are predicted to be dynamically stable within the framework of the $\mathrm{DFT}+U$ scheme. Furthermore, the impact of different treatments for the exchange-correlation (xc)-functional is investigated by carrying out all computations employing the local density approximation and generalized gradient approximation. To address finite-temperature properties, both magnetic and vibrational contributions to the free energy have been computed employing our recently developed spin-space averaging method. The calculated phase transition temperature between low-temperature antiferromagnetic and high-temperature paramagnetic (PM) CrN variants is in excellent agreement with experimental values and reveals the strong impact of the choice of the xc-functional. The temperature-dependent linear thermal expansion coefficient of CrN is experimentally determined by the wafer curvature method from a reactive magnetron sputter deposited single-phase B1-CrN thin film with dense film morphology. A good agreement is found between experimental and ab initio calculated linear thermal expansion coefficients of PM B1-CrN. Other thermodynamic properties, such as the specific heat capacity, have been computed as well and compared to previous experimental data.

Unfolding the band structure of disordered solids: from bound states to high-mobility Kane fermions

Abstract: Supercells are often used in ab initio calculations to model compound alloys, surfaces and defects. One of the main challenges of supercell electronic structure calculations is to recover the Bloch character of electronic eigenstates perturbed by disorder. Here we apply the spectral weight approach to unfolding the electronic structure of group III-V and II-VI semiconductor solid solutions. The illustrative examples include: formation of donor-like states in dilute Ga(PN) and associated enhancement of its optical activity, direct observation of the valence band anticrossing in dilute GaAs:Bi, and a topological band crossover in ternary (HgCd)Te alloy accompanied by emergence of high-mobility Kane fermions. The analysis facilitates interpretation of optical and transport characteristics of alloys that are otherwise ambiguous in traditional first-principles supercell calculations.

Electromagnetic reactions on light nuclei

Abstract: Electromagnetic reactions on light nuclei are fundamental to advance our understanding of nuclear structure and dynamics. The perturbative nature of the electromagnetic probes allows to clearly connect measured cross sections with the calculated structure properties of nuclear targets. We present an overview on recent theoretical ab initio calculations of electron-scattering and photonuclear reactions involving light nuclei. We encompass both the conventional approach and the novel theoretical framework provided by chiral effective field theories. Because both strong and electromagnetic interactions are involved in the processes under study, comparison with available experimental data provides stringent constraints on both many-body nuclear Hamiltonians and electromagnetic currents. We discuss what we have learned from studies on electromagnetic observables of light nuclei, starting from the deuteron and reaching up to nuclear systems with mass number A = 16.

Interlayer vibrational modes in few-quintuple-layer Bi 2 Te 3 and Bi 2 Se 3 two-dimensional crystals: Raman spectroscopy and first-principles studies

Abstract: Layered materials, such as graphite/graphene, boron nitride, transition metal dichalcogenides, represent materials in which reduced size, dimensionality, and symmetry play critical roles in their physical properties. Here, we report on a comprehensive investigation of the phonon properties in the topological insulator ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$ and ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$ two-dimensional (2D) crystals, with the combination of Raman spectroscopy, first-principles calculations, and group theory analysis. Low frequency $(l30\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{\ensuremath{-}1})$ interlayer vibrational modes are revealed in few-quintuple-layer (QL) $\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{i}}_{2}\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_{3}\text{/}\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{i}}_{2}\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{e}}_{3}$ 2D crystals, which are absent in the bulk crystal as a result of different symmetries. The experimentally observed interlayer shear and breathing mode frequencies both show blueshifts, with decreasing thickness in few-QL ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$ (down to 2QL) and ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$ (down to 1QL), in agreement with first-principles calculations and a linear chain model, from which the interlayer coupling force constants can be estimated. Besides, an intense ultralow $(l12\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{\ensuremath{-}1})$ frequency peak is observed in 2--4QL ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$, which is tentatively attributed to a substrate-induced interface mode supported by a linear chain model analysis. The high frequency Raman peaks exhibit frequency shifts and broadening from 3D to 2D as a result of the phonon confinement effect. Our studies shed light on a general understanding of the influence of dimensionality and crystal symmetry on the phonon properties in layered materials.

Atomic-Scale Perspective of Ultrafast Charge Transfer at a Dye–Semiconductor Interface

Abstract: Understanding interfacial charge-transfer processes on the atomic level is crucial to support the rational design of energy-challenge relevant systems such as solar cells, batteries, and photocatalysts. A femtosecond time-resolved core-level photoelectron spectroscopy study is performed that probes the electronic structure of the interface between ruthenium-based N3 dye molecules and ZnO nanocrystals within the first picosecond after photoexcitation and from the unique perspective of the Ru reporter atom at the center of the dye. A transient chemical shift of the Ru 3d inner-shell photolines by (2.3 ± 0.2) eV to higher binding energies is observed 500 fs after photoexcitation of the dye. The experimental results are interpreted with the aid of ab initio calculations using constrained density functional theory. Strong indications for the formation of an interfacial charge-transfer state are presented, providing direct insight into a transient electronic configuration that may limit the efficiency of photoinduced free charge-carrier generation.

High-Level, First-Principles, Full-Dimensional Quantum Calculation of the Ro-vibrational Spectrum of the Simplest Criegee Intermediate (CH2OO).

Abstract: The ro-vibrational spectrum of the simplest Criegee intermediate (CH2OO) has been determined quantum mechanically based on nine-dimensional potential energy and dipole surfaces for its ground electronic state. The potential energy surface is fitted to more than 50 000 high-level ab initio points with a root-mean-square error of 25 cm(-1), using a recently proposed permutation invariant polynomial neural network method. The calculated rotational constants, vibrational frequencies, and spectral intensities of CH2OO are in excellent agreement with experiment. The potential energy surface provides a valuable platform for studying highly excited vibrational and unimolecular reaction dynamics of this important molecule.

Electron correlation in solids via density embedding theory

Abstract: Density matrix embedding theory [G Knizia and G K-L Chan, Phys Rev Lett 109, 186404 (2012)] and density embedding theory [I W Bulik, G E Scuseria, and J Dukelsky, Phys Rev B 89, 035140 (2014)] have recently been introduced for model lattice Hamiltonians and molecular systems In the present work, the formalism is extended to the ab initio description of infinite systems An appropriate definition of the impurity Hamiltonian for such systems is presented and demonstrated in cases of 1, 2, and 3 dimensions, using coupled cluster theory as the impurity solver Additionally, we discuss the challenges related to disentanglement of fragment and bath states The current approach yields results comparable to coupled cluster calculations of infinite systems even when using a single unit cell as the fragment The theory is formulated in the basis of Wannier functions but it does not require separate localization of unoccupied bands The embedding scheme presented here is a promising way of employing highly accurate electronic structure methods for extended systems at a fraction of their original computational cost

Magnetic Properties and Electronic Structure of Neptunyl(VI) Complexes: Wavefunctions, Orbitals, and Crystal‐Field Models

Abstract: The electronic structure and magnetic properties of neptunyl(VI), NpO2(2+), and two neptunyl complexes, [NpO2(NO3)3](-) and [NpO2Cl4](2-), were studied with a combination of theoretical methods: ab initio relativistic wavefunction methods and density functional theory (DFT), as well as crystal-field (CF) models with parameters extracted from the ab initio calculations. Natural orbitals for electron density and spin magnetization from wavefunctions including spin-orbit coupling were employed to analyze the connection between the electronic structure and magnetic properties, and to link the results from CF models to the ab initio data. Free complex ions and systems embedded in a crystal environment were studied. Of prime interest were the electron paramagnetic resonance g-factors and their relation to the complex geometry, ligand coordination, and nature of the nonbonding 5f orbitals. The g-factors were calculated for the ground and excited states. For [NpO2Cl4](2-), a strong influence of the environment of the complex on its magnetic behavior was demonstrated. Kohn-Sham DFT with standard functionals can produce reasonable g-factors as long as the calculation converges to a solution resembling the electronic state of interest. However, this is not always straightforward.

Quantum fluctuations and isotope effects in ab initio descriptions of water

Abstract: Isotope substitution is extensively used to investigate the microscopic behavior of hydrogen bonded systems such as liquid water. The changes in structure and stability of these systems upon isotope substitution arise entirely from the quantum mechanical nature of the nuclei. Here, we provide a fully ab initio determination of the isotope exchange free energy and fractionation ratio of hydrogen and deuterium in water treating exactly nuclear quantum effects and explicitly modeling the quantum nature of the electrons. This allows us to assess how quantum effects in water manifest as isotope effects, and unravel how the interplay between electronic exchange and correlation and nuclear quantum fluctuations determine the structure of the hydrogen bond in water.

Dissociative chemisorption of methane on metal surfaces: Tests of dynamical assumptions using quantum models and ab initio molecular dynamics

Abstract: The dissociative chemisorption of methane on metal surfaces is of great practical and fundamental importance. Not only is it the rate-limiting step in the steam reforming of natural gas, the reaction exhibits interesting mode-selective behavior and a strong dependence on the temperature of the metal. We present a quantum model for this reaction on Ni(100) and Ni(111) surfaces based on the reaction path Hamiltonian. The dissociative sticking probabilities computed using this model agree well with available experimental data with regard to variation with incident energy, substrate temperature, and the vibrational state of the incident molecule. We significantly expand the vibrational basis set relative to earlier studies, which allows reaction probabilities to be calculated for doubly excited initial vibrational states, though it does not lead to appreciable changes in the reaction probabilities for singly excited initial states. Sudden models used to treat the center of mass motion parallel to the surface are compared with results from ab initio molecular dynamics and found to be reasonable. Similar comparisons for molecular rotation suggest that our rotationally adiabatic model is incorrect, and that sudden behavior is closer to reality. Such a model is proposed and tested. A model for predicting mode-selective behavior is tested, with mixed results, though we find it is consistent with experimental studies of normal vs. total (kinetic) energy scaling. Models for energy transfer into lattice vibrations are also examined.

Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and chiral magnetism in 3d-5d zigzag chains: Tight-binding model and ab initio calculations

Abstract: We investigate the chiral magnetic order in freestanding planar $3d\ensuremath{-}5d$ biatomic metallic chains $(3d$: Fe, Co; $5d$: Ir, Pt, Au) using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. We find that the antisymmetric exchange interaction, commonly known as the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), contributes significantly to the energetics of the magnetic structure. For the Fe-Pt and Co-Pt chains, the DMI can compete with the isotropic Heisenberg-type exchange interaction and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy, and for both cases a homogeneous left-rotating cycloidal chiral spin-spiral with a wavelength of 51 \AA{} and 36 \AA{}, respectively, was found. The sign of the DMI, which determines the handedness of the magnetic structure, changes in the sequence of the $5d$ atoms $\mathrm{Ir}(+)$, $\mathrm{Pt}(\ensuremath{-})$, $\mathrm{Au}(+)$. We use the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method and perform self-consistent calculations of homogeneous spin spirals, calculating the DMI by treating the effect of spin-orbit interaction in the basis of the spin-spiral states in first-order perturbation theory. To gain insight into the DMI results of our ab initio calculations, we develop a minimal tight-binding model of three atoms and four orbitals that contains all essential features: the spin canting between the magnetic $3d$ atoms, the spin-orbit interaction at the $5d$ atoms, and the structure inversion asymmetry facilitated by the triangular geometry. We find that spin canting can lead to spin-orbit active eigenstates that split in energy due to the spin-orbit interaction at the $5d$ atom. We show that the sign and strength of the hybridization, the bonding or antibonding character between $d$ orbitals of the magnetic and nonmagnetic sites, the bandwidth, and the energy difference between occupied and unoccupied states of different spin projection determine the sign and strength of the DMI. The key features observed in the trimer model are also found in the first-principles results.

Simulating the vibrational spectra of ionic liquid systems: 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate and its mixtures.

Abstract: The vibrational spectra of the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate and its mixtures with water and carbon dioxide are calculated using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, and the results are compared to experimental data. The new implementation of a normal coordinate analysis in the trajectory analyzer TRAVIS is used to assign the experimentally observed bands to specific molecular vibrations. The applied computational approaches prove to be particularly suitable for the modeling of bulk phase effects on vibrational spectra, which are highly important for the discussion of the microscopic structure in systems with a strong dynamic network of intermolecular interactions, such as ionic liquids.

First-principles calculation of the instability leading to giant inverse magnetocaloric effects

Abstract: The structural and magnetic properties of functional Ni-Mn-$Z$ ($Z=\text{Ga}$, In, Sn) Heusler alloys are studied by first-principles and Monte Carlo methods. The ab initio calculations give a basic understanding of the underlying physics which is associated with the strong competition of ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions with increasing chemical disorder. The resulting $d$-electron orbital dependent magnetic ordering is the driving mechanism of magnetostructural instability which is accompanied by a drop of magnetization governing the size of the magnetocaloric effect. The thermodynamic properties are calculated by using the ab initio magnetic exchange coupling constants in finite-temperature Monte Carlo simulations, which are used to accurately reproduce the experimental entropy and adiabatic temperature changes across the magnetostructural transition.

Assessment of approximate computational methods for conical intersections and branching plane vectors in organic molecules.

Abstract: Quantum-chemical computational methods are benchmarked for their ability to describe conical intersections in a series of organic molecules and models of biological chromophores. Reference results for the geometries, relative energies, and branching planes of conical intersections are obtained using ab initio multireference configuration interaction with single and double excitations (MRCISD). They are compared with the results from more approximate methods, namely, the state-interaction state-averaged restricted ensemble-referenced Kohn-Sham method, spin-flip time-dependent density functional theory, and a semiempirical MRCISD approach using an orthogonalization-corrected model. It is demonstrated that these approximate methods reproduce the ab initio reference data very well, with root-mean-square deviations in the optimized geometries of the order of 0.1 A or less and with reasonable agreement in the computed relative energies. A detailed analysis of the branching plane vectors shows that all currently applied methods yield similar nuclear displacements for escaping the strong non-adiabatic coupling region near the conical intersections. Our comparisons support the use of the tested quantum-chemical methods for modeling the photochemistry of large organic and biological systems.

On combining temperature and pressure effects on structural properties of crystals with standard ab initio techniques.

Abstract: A general-purpose, fully automated, computationally efficient implementation is presented of a series of techniques for the simultaneous description of pressure and temperature effects on structural properties of materials, by means of standard ab initio simulations. Equilibrium volume, bulk modulus, thermal expansion coefficient, equation-of-state, Gruneisen parameter, constant-pressure and constant-volume specific heats are computed as a function of temperature and pressure for the simple crystal of diamond and compared with accurate experimental data. Convergence of computed properties with respect to super-cell size is critically discussed. The effect on such properties of the adopted exchange-correlation functional of the density-functional-theory is discussed by considering three different levels of approximation (including hybrids): it is found to be rather small for the temperature dependence of equilibrium volume and bulk modulus, whereas it is quite large as regards their absolute values.

A comparison of singlet and triplet states for one- and two-dimensional graphene nanoribbons using multireference theory

Abstract: This study examines the radical nature and spin symmetry of the ground state of the quasi-linear acene and two-dimensional periacene series. For this purpose, high-level ab initio calculations have been performed using the multireference averaged quadratic coupled cluster theory and the COLUMBUS program package. A reference space consisting of restricted and complete active spaces is taken for the π-conjugated space, correlating 16 electrons with 16 orbitals with the most pronounced open-shell character for the acenes and a complete active-space reference approach with eight electrons in eight orbitals for the periacenes. This reference space is used to construct the total configuration space by means of single and double excitations. By comparison with more extended calculations, it is shown that a focus on the π space with a 6-31G basis set is sufficient to describe the major features of the electronic character of these compounds. The present findings suggest that the ground state is a singlet for the smaller members of these series, but that for the larger ones, singlet and triplet states are quasi-degenerate. Both the acenes and periacenes exhibit significant polyradical character beyond the traditional diradical.

Quantum molecular dynamics simulation of shock-wave experiments in aluminum

Abstract: We present quantum molecular dynamics calculations of principal, porous, and double shock Hugoniots, release isentropes, and sound velocity behind the shock front for aluminum. A comprehensive analysis of available shock-wave data is performed; the agreement and discrepancies of simulation results with measurements are discussed. Special attention is paid to the melting region of aluminum along the principal Hugoniot; the boundaries of the melting zone are estimated using the self-diffusion coefficient. Also, we make a comparison with a high-quality multiphase equation of state for aluminum. Independent semiempirical and first-principle models are very close to each other in caloric variables (pressure, density, particle velocity, etc.) but the equation of state gives higher temperature on the principal Hugoniot and release isentropes than ab initio calculations. Thus, the quantum molecular dynamics method can be used for calibration of semiempirical equations of state in case of lack of experimental data.