arXiv subjects

Adam Rettig

Publications and source records attributed to Adam Rettig.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Chemical Origins of Non-Bonded Interactions Within and Between Solids

Non-bonded interactions govern structure, stability, and function across a wide range of solid-state materials, yet their chemical origins are often difficult to resolve from total energies alone. Here we generalize absolutely localized molecular orbital energy decomposition analysis to quantify and interpret non-bonded interactions within and between solids at the density functional theory level. Across molecular crystals, moir\'e heterobilayers, and layered perovskite heterostructures, this framework separates lattice-formation energies, interlayer binding energies, and band-structure changes into chemically intuitive contributions from frozen interactions, polarization, and charge transfer. The analysis reveals how dispersion controls polymorph stability in pharmaceutical crystals, how local stacking modulates interlayer coupling in MoS2/WSe2, and how alkali-cation substitution switches the quantum-well character of layered perovskite heterostructures. By connecting emergent solid-state properties to microscopic interaction mechanisms, this framework provides a chemically transparent basis for understanding and designing complex materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Ab Initio Auxiliary-Field Quantum Monte Carlo in the Thermodynamic Limit

Ab initio auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) is a systematically improvable many-body method, but its application to extended solids has been severely limited by unfavorable computational scaling and memory requirements that obstruct direct access to the thermodynamic and complete-basis-set limits. By combining tensor hypercontraction with $\mathbf{k}$-point symmetry, we reduce the computational and memory scaling of ab initio AFQMC for solids to $\mathcal O(N^3)$ and $\mathcal O(N^2)$, respectively, with an arbitrary basis, comparable to diffusion Monte Carlo. This enables direct and simultaneous thermodynamic-limit and complete-basis-set AFQMC calculations across insulating, metallic, and strongly correlated solids, without embedding, local approximations, empirical finite-size corrections, or composite schemes. Our results establish AFQMC as a general-purpose, systematically improvable alternative to diffusion Monte Carlo and coupled-cluster methods for predictive ab initio simulations of solids, enabling accurate energies and magnetic observables within a unified framework.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Efficient All-Electron Periodic Fourier-Transformed Coulomb Method

We present an efficient algorithm for the all-electron periodic Coulomb matrix based on the Ewald summation combined with the Fourier-transformed Coulomb method. The short-range contributions involving compact densities are evaluated in real space using the standard Gaussian density fitting method. For the long-range contributions, we introduce an integral-direct planewave density fitting, applicable to both compact and diffuse densities. The resulting method achieves orders-of-magnitude speedups for prototypical solid-state systems compared to a closely related approach, the range-separated density fitting method. Using dispersion-corrected PBE functional and all-electron Dunning and Karlsruhe basis sets, we apply our method to compute the cohesive energy of the benzene crystal and the adsorption energy of CO on the MgO(001) surface. These results are in good agreement with existing literature. Our approach enables efficient Gaussian-based semi-local density functional calculations using dense $\mathbf {k}$-point meshes and traditional molecular Gaussian basis sets.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Gaussian-Based Periodic Grand Canonical Density Functional Theory with Implicit Solvation for Computational Electrochemistry

We present a numerical method for grand canonical density functional theory (DFT) tailored to solid-state systems, employing Gaussian-type orbitals as the primary basis. Our approach directly minimizes the grand canonical free energy using the density matrix as the sole variational parameter, while self-consistently updating the electron number between self-consistent field iterations. To enable realistic electrochemical modeling, we integrate this approach with implicit solvation models. Our solvation scheme introduces less than 50% overhead relative to gas-phase calculations. Compared to existing plane wave-based implementations, our method shows improved robustness in grand canonical simulations. We validate the approach by modeling corrosion at silver surfaces, finding excellent agreement with previous studies. Our method is implemented in the quantum chemistry software Q-Chem. This work lays the groundwork for future wavefunction-based simulations beyond DFT under electrochemical operando conditions.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Regularized Perturbation Theory for Ab initio Solids

Second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) for ab initio simulations of solids is often limited by divergence or over-correlation issues, particularly in metallic, narrow-gap, and dispersion-stabilized systems. We develop and assess three regularized second-order perturbation theories: $\kappa$-MP2, $\sigma$-MP2, and the size-consistent Brillouin-Wigner approach (BW-s2), across metals, semiconductors, molecular crystals, and rare gas solids. BW-s2 achieves high accuracy for cohesive energies, lattice constants, and bulk moduli in metals, semiconductors, and molecular crystals, rivaling or surpassing coupled-cluster with singles and doubles at lower cost. In rare gas solids, where MP2 already underbinds, $\kappa$-MP2 does not make the results much worse while BW-s2 struggles. These results illustrate both the potential and the limitations of regularized perturbation theory for efficient and accurate solid-state simulations. While broader testing is warranted, BW-s2($\alpha$ = 2) appears particularly promising, with possible advantages over modern random-phase approximations and coupled-cluster theory.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Condensed-Phase Quantum Chemistry

Molecular quantum chemistry has seen enormous progress in the last few decades thanks to the more advanced and sophisticated numerical techniques and computing power. Following the recent interest in extending these capabilities to condensed-phase problems, we summarize basic knowledge of condensed-phase quantum chemistry for ones with experience in molecular quantum chemistry. We highlight recent efforts in this direction, including solving the electron repulsion integrals bottleneck and implementing hybrid density functional theory and wavefunction methods, and lattice dynamics for periodic systems within atom-centered basis sets. Many computational techniques presented here are inspired by the extensive method developments rooted in quantum chemistry. In this Focus Article, we selectively focus on the computational techniques rooted in molecular quantum chemistry, emphasize some challenges, and point out open questions. We hope our perspectives will encourage researchers to pursue this exciting and promising research avenue.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

A New View on Density Corrected DFT: Can One Get a Better Answer for a Good Reason?

Despite its widespread use, density functional theory (DFT) has several notable areas of failure; perhaps the most well-studied of these failures is self-interaction error (SIE). Density corrected DFT (DC-DFT) was proposed as a potential solution to systems where SIE causes traditional DFT to fail. The Hartree-Fock (HF) density is then used for cases where the DFT energy is suitable but the self-consistent density is erroneous. In this study, we investigate the utility of the higher quality orbital optimized MP2 densities in DC-DFT for barrier heights and halogen bonded complexes. For functionals such as PBE and r$^2$SCAN, find that these densities yield worse results than the HF density due to favorable cancellation between the density-driven and functional-driven errors, confirming a recent study. Error decomposition reveals functional driven error, not density driven error, to be the primary cause of inaccuracy in DFT calculations where SIE is prominent. We therefore advise caution when using HF-DFT, because the only rigorous way to remove large functional-driven errors in lower rungs of Jacob's ladder is by climbing to higher rungs that include exact exchange. We recommend that better functionals be improved by using a better density in SIE-sensitive cases. Examples support the value of this variant of DC-DFT. We also emphasize that DC-DFT potential energy surfaces have first derivative discontinuities at Coulson-Fischer points, in contrast to the second derivative discontinuities in SCF solutions.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

Even Faster Exact Exchange for Solids via Tensor Hypercontraction

Hybrid density functional theory (DFT) remains intractable for large periodic systems due to the demanding computational cost of exact exchange. We apply the tensor hypercontraction (THC) (or interpolative separable density fitting) approximation to periodic hybrid DFT calculations with Gaussian-type orbitals. This is done to lower the computational scaling with respect to the number of basis functions ($N$), and $\mathbf k$-points ($N_k$). Additionally, we propose an algorithm to fit only occupied orbital products via THC (i.e. a set of points, $N_\text{ISDF}$) to further reduce computation time and memory usage. This algorithm has linear scaling cost with $\mathbf k$-points, no explicit dependence of $N_\text{ISDF}$ on basis set size, and overall cubic scaling with unit cell size. Significant speedups and reduced memory usage may be obtained for moderately sized systems, with additional gains for large systems. Adequate accuracy can be obtained using THC-oo-K for self-consistent calculations. We perform illustrative hybrid density function theory calculations on the benzene crystal in the basis set and thermodynamic limits to highlight the utility of this algorithm.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2022

Faster Exact Exchange for Solids via occ-RI-K: Application to Combinatorially Optimized Range-Separated Hybrid Functionals for Simple Solids with Pseudopotentials Near the Basis Set Limit

In this work, we developed and showcased the occ-RI-K algorithm to compute the exact exchange contribution in density functional calculations of solids near the basis set limit. Within the gaussian planewave (GPW) density fitting, our algorithm achieves a 1-2 orders of magnitude speedup compared to conventional GPW algorithms. Since our algorithm is well-suited for simulations with large basis sets, we applied it to 12 hybrid density functionals with pseudopotentials and a large uncontracted basis set to assess their performance on band gaps of 25 simple solids near the basis set limit. The largest calculation performed in this work involves 16 electrons and 350 basis functions in the unit cell utilizing a 6x6x6 k-mesh. With 20-27\% exact exchange, global hybrid functionals (B3LYP, PBE0, revPBE0, B97-3, SCAN0) perform similarly with a root-mean-square-deviation (RMSD) of 0.61-0.77 eV while other global hybrid functionals such as M06-2X (2.02 eV) and MN15 (1.05 eV) show higher RMSD due to their increased fraction of exact exchange. A short-range hybrid functional, HSE achieves a similar RMSD (0.76 eV) but shows a noticeable underestimation of band gaps due to the complete lack of long-range exchange. We found that two combinatorially optimized range-separated hybrid functionals, $\omega$B97X-rV (3.94 eV) and $\omega$B97M-rV (3.40 eV), and the two other range separated hybrid functionals, CAM-B3LYP (2.41 eV) and CAM-QTP01 (4.16 eV), significantly overestimate the band gap because of their high fraction of long-range exact exchange. Given the failure of $\omega$B97X-rV and $\omega$B97M-rV, we have yet to find a density functional that offers consistent performance for both molecules and solids. Our algorithm development and density functional assessment will serve as a stepping stone towards developing more accurate hybrid functionals and applying them to practical applications.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2020

Third order M{\o}ller-Plesset theory made more useful? The role of density functional theory orbitals

The practical utility of M{\o}ller-Plesset (MP) perturbation theory is severely constrained by the use of Hartree-Fock (HF) orbitals. It has recently been shown that use of regularized orbital-optimized MP2 orbitals and scaling of MP3 energy could lead to a significant reduction in MP3 error (J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 10, 4170, 2019). In this work we examine whether density functional theory (DFT) optimized orbitals can be similarly employed to improve the performance of MP theory at both the MP2 and MP3 levels. We find that use of DFT orbitals leads to significantly improved performance for prediction of thermochemistry, barrier heights, non-covalent interactions, and dipole moments relative to standard HF based MP theory. Indeed MP3 (with or without scaling) with DFT orbitals is found to surpass the accuracy of coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) for several datasets. We also found that the results are not particularly functional sensitive in most cases, (although range-separated hybrid functionals with low delocalization error perform the best). MP3 based on DFT orbitals thus appears to be an efficient, non-iterative $O(N^6)$ scaling wave function approach for single-reference electronic structure computations. Scaled MP2 with DFT orbitals is also found to be quite accurate in many cases, although modern double hybrid functionals are likely to be considerably more accurate.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2019

Beyond the Coulson-Fischer point: Characterizing single excitation CI and TDDFT for excited states in single bond dissociations

Linear response time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), which builds upon configuration interaction singles (CIS) and TD-Hartree-Fock (TDHF), is the most widely used class of excited state quantum chemistry methods and is often employed to study photochemical processes. This paper studies the behavior of the resulting excited state potential energy surfaces beyond the Coulson-Fisher (CF) point in single bond dissociations, when the optimal reference determinant is spin-polarized. Many excited states exhibit sharp kinks at the CF point, and connect to different dissociation limits via a zone of unphysical concave curvature. In particular, the unrestricted M$_S=0$ lowest triplet T$_1$ state changes character, and does not dissociate into ground state fragments. The unrestricted $M_S=\pm 1$ T$_1$ CIS states better approximate the physical dissociation limit, but their degeneracy is broken beyond the CF point for most single bond dissociations. On the other hand, the $M_S=\pm 1$ T$_1$ TDHF states reach the asymptote too soon, by merging with the ground state from the CF point onwards. Use of local exchange-correlation functionals causes $M_S=\pm 1$ T$_1$ TDDFT states to resemble their unphysical $M_S= 0$ counterpart. The 2 orbital, 2-electron model system of minimal basis H$_2$ is analytically treated to understand the origin of these issues, revealing that the lack of double excitations is at the root of these remarkable observations. The behavior of excited state surfaces is also numerically examined for species like H$_2$, NH$_3$, C$_2$H$_6$ and LiH in extended basis sets.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2018

Well-behaved versus ill-behaved density functionals for single bond dissociation: Separating success from disaster functional by functional for stretched H$_2$

Unrestricted DFT methods are typically expected to describe the homolytic dissociation of nonpolar single bonds in neutral species with qualitative accuracy, due to the lack of significant delocalization error. We however find that many widely used density functional approximations fail to describe features along the dissociation curve of the simple H$_2$ molecule. This is not an universal failure of DFT in the sense that many classic functionals like PBE and B3LYP give very reasonable results, as do some more modern methods like MS2. However, some other widely used functionals like B97-D (empirically fitted) and TPSS (non-empirically constrained) predict qualitatively wrong static polarizabilities, force constants and some even introduce an artificial barrier against association of independent H atoms to form H$_2$. The polarizability and force constant prediction failures appear to stem from incomplete spin localization into individual H atoms beyond the Coulson-Fisher point, resulting in `fractionally bonded' species where the ionic contributions to the Slater determinant are not completely eliminated, unlike the case of unrestricted Hartree-Fock. These errors therefore appear to be a consequence of poor self-consistent density prediction by the problematic functional. The same reasons could potentially lead to spurious barriers towards H atom association, indirectly also leading to incorrect forces. These unphysicalities suggest that the use of problematic functionals is probably unwise in \textit{ab initio} dynamics calculations, especially if strong electrostatic interactions are possible.

physics.chem-ph↗