Accurate quantum Monte Carlo calculations for hydrogen fluoride and the fluorine atom

Abstract

Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the ground state energies of the fluorine atom and the hydrogen fluoride molecule have been carried out using both fixed-node and released-node methods. The fixed-node total energies for both F and FH are among the most accurate available. The fixed-node dissociation energy De=141.3(4) kcal mol−1 is in excellent agreement with experimental data. The cancellation of the nodal error was achieved with trial wave functions having nodal surfaces determined by Slater determinants of the near Hartree–Fock limit quality. With the released-node Green’s function quantum Monte Carlo method the lowest upper bounds to the ground state energies to date for both F [E0=−99.731(4) Hartree] and FH [E0=−100.458(5) Hartree] have been obtained.