CleaRIXS: A fast and accurate first-principles method for simulation and analysis of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Abstract

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS), which probes the occupied and unoccupied electronic subspaces in an interrelated fashion, is one of the most detailed, complex, and information-rich experimental techniques employed in the investigation of electronic structure across physics, chemistry, and materials science. We introduce an ab initio, accurate, and efficient computational framework for simulation and analysis of RIXS spectra, which combines two diverse and established approaches to modeling electronic excited states. The core-hole linear-response RIXS (CleaRIXS) method not only ensures accurate incorporation of the interaction of electrons with core and valence holes, but also automatically maps the salient RIXS features to the relevant electronic excitations and deexcitations. Through direct comparison with previous methanol C $K$-edge RIXS measurements [A. Benkert et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 120, 2260 (2016).], we show the efficacy of the formalism in modeling different regions of the RIXS spectrum and in gaining physical insight regarding their origins. The importance of including the electron-hole interactions outside the core region is explored, in addition to the connection between CleaRIXS and determinant-based approaches for simulating x-ray absorption and nonresonant x-ray emission. CleaRIXS provides a robust and extendable framework for prediction and interpretation of RIXS processes and for the simulation of complex electronic excited states in general.