Accurate adiabatic singlet-triplet gaps in atoms and molecules employing the third-order spin-flip algebraic diagrammatic construction scheme for the polarization propagator.

Abstract

For the calculation of adiabatic singlet-triplet gaps (STG) in diradicaloid systems the spin-flip (SF) variant of the algebraic diagrammatic construction (ADC) scheme for the polarization propagator in third order perturbation theory (SF-ADC(3)) has been applied. Due to the methodology of the SF approach the singlet and triplet states are treated on an equal footing since they are part of the same determinant subspace. This leads to a systematically more accurate description of, e.g., diradicaloid systems than with the corresponding non-SF single-reference methods. Furthermore, using analytical excited state gradients at ADC(3) level, geometry optimizations of the singlet and triplet states were performed leading to a fully consistent description of the systems, leading to only small errors in the calculated STGs ranging between 0.6 and 2.4 kcal/mol with respect to experimental references.