Assessing the Accuracy of SAPT(DFT) Interaction Energies by Comparison with Experimentally Derived Noble Gas Potentials and Molecular Crystal Lattice Energies

Abstract

The density functional version of symmetry-adapted perturbation theory, SAPT(DFT), is a computationally efficient method for calculating intermolecular interaction energies. We evaluate its accuracy by comparison with experimentally determined noble gas interaction potentials and sublimation enthalpies, most of which have not been previously calculated using this method. In order to compare the results with wavefunction methods, we also calculate these quantities using MP2 and, for noble gas dimers, using CCSD(T). For the crystal lattice energy calculations, we include corrections to the dispersion, electrostatic, and induction energies that account for the finite interaction distance cutoff and higher-order induction contributions. Overall, the energy values extrapolated to the complete basis set limit show that SAPT(DFT) achieves significantly better agreement with experiment than MP2.