Extended Koopmans' Theorem Research Articles

Numerical analysis of the complete active-space extended Koopmans's theorem.

We investigate the numerical accuracy of the extended Koopmans's theorem (EKT) in reproducing the full configuration interaction (FCI) and complete active-space configuration interaction (CAS-CI) ionization energies (IEs) of atomic and molecular systems calculated as the difference between the energies of N and (N - 1) electron states. In particular, we study the convergence of the EKT IEs to their exact values as the basis set and the active space sizes vary. We find that the first FCI EKT IEs approach their exact counterparts as the basis set size increases. However, increasing the basis set or the active space sizes does not always lead to more accurate CAS-CI EKT IEs. Our investigation supports the observation of Davidson et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 155, 051102 (2021)] that the FCI EKT IEs can be systematically improved with arbitrary numerical accuracy by supplementing the basis set with diffuse functions of appropriate symmetry, which allow the detached electron to travel far away from the reference system. By changing the exponent and the center of the diffuse functions, our results delineate a complex pattern for the CAS-CI EKT IE of LiH, which can be important for the spectroscopic studies of small molecules.

Errors in approximate ionization energies due to the one-electron space truncation of the EKT eigenproblem.

Unless the approximate wavefunction of the parent system is expressed in terms of explicitly correlated basis functions, the finite size of the generalized Fock matrix is unlikely to be the leading source of the truncation error in the ionization energy E produced by the EKT (extended Koopmans' theorem) formalism. This conclusion is drawn from a rigorous analysis that involves error partitioning into the parent- and ionized-system contributions, the former being governed by asymptotic power laws when the underlying wavefunction is assembled from a large number of spinorbitals and the latter arising from the truncation of the infinite-dimensional matrix V whose elements involve the 1-, 2-, and 3-matrices of the parent system. Quite surprisingly, the decay of the second contribution with the number n of the natural spinorbitals (NOs) employed in the construction of the truncated V turns out to be strongly system-dependent even in the simplest case of the 1S states of two-electron systems, following the n-5 power law for the helium atom while exhibiting an erratic behavior for the H- anion. This phenomenon, which stems from the presence of the so-called solitonic natural spinorbitals among the NOs, renders the extrapolation of the EKT approximates of E to the complete-basis-set limit generally unfeasible. However, attaining that limit is not contingent upon attempted reproduction of the ill-defined one-electron function known as "the removal orbital," which does not have to be invoked in the derivation of EKT and whose expansion in terms of the NOs diverges.

Introducing screening in one-body density matrix functionals: Impact on charged excitations of model systems via the extended Koopmans' theorem

In this work we get insight into the impact of reduced density matrix functionals on the quality of removal/addition energies obtained using the extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT). Within the reduced density matrix functional theory (RDMFT) the EKT approach reduces to a matrix diagonalization, whose ingredients are the one- and two-body reduced density matrices. A striking feature of the EKT within RDMFT is that it opens a band gap, although it is too large, in strongly correlated materials, which are a challenge for state-of-the-art methods such as $GW$. Using the one-dimensional Hubbard model and the homogeneous electron gas as test cases, we find that (i) with exact or very accurate density matrices the EKT systematically overestimates the band gap in the Hubbard model and the bandwidth in the homogeneous electron gas and (ii) with approximate density matrices, instead, the EKT can benefit from error cancellation. In particular we test a new approximation which combines random-phase approximation screening with the power functional approximation to the two-body reduced density matrix introduced by Sharma et al. [Phys. Rev. B 78, 201103 (2008)]. An important feature of this approximation is that it reduces the EKT band gap in the studied models; it is hence a promising approximation for correcting the EKT band-gap overestimation in strongly correlated materials.

State-Of-The-Art Computations of Vertical Electron Affinities with the Extended Koopmans' Theorem Integrated with the CCSD(T) Method.

Accurate computation of electron affinities (EAs), within 0.10 eV, is one of the most challenging problems in modern computational quantum chemistry. The extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT) enables direct computations of electron affinities (EAs) from any level of the theory. In this research, the EKT approach based on the coupled-cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples [CCSD(T)] method is applied to computations of EAs for the first time. For efficiency, the density-fitting (DF) technique is used for two-electron integrals. Further, the EKT-CCSD(T) method is applied to three test sets of atoms and closed- and open-shell molecules, denoted A16, C10, and O33, respectively, for comparison with the experimental electron affinities. For the A16, C10, and O33 sets, the EKT-CCSD(T) approach, along with the aug-cc-pV5Z basis set, provide mean absolute errors (MAEs) of 0.05, 0.08, and 0.09 eV, respectively. Hence, our results demonstrate that high-accuracy computations of EAs can be achieved with the EKT-CCSD(T) approach. Further, when the EKT-CCSD(T) approach is not computationally affordable, the EKT-MP2.5, EKT-LCCD, and EKT-CCSD methods can be considered, and their results are also reasonably accurate. The huge advantage of the EKT method for the computation of IPs is that it comes for free in an analytic gradient computation. Hence, one needs neither separate computations for neutral and ionic species, as in the case of common approaches, nor additional efforts to obtain IPs, as in the case of equation-of-motion approaches. Overall, we believe that the present research may open new avenues in EA computations.

Photoemission Spectra from the Extended Koopman's Theorem, Revisited.

The Extended Koopman’s Theorem (EKT) provides a straightforward way to compute charged excitations from any level of theory. In this work we make the link with the many-body effective energy theory (MEET) that we derived to calculate the spectral function, which is directly related to photoemission spectra. In particular, we show that at its lowest level of approximation the MEET removal and addition energies correspond to the so-called diagonal approximation of the EKT. Thanks to this link, the EKT and the MEET can benefit from mutual insight. In particular, one can readily extend the EKT to calculate the full spectral function, and choose a more optimal basis set for the MEET by solving the EKT secular equation. We illustrate these findings with the examples of the Hubbard dimer and bulk silicon.

Complete-active-space extended Koopmans theorem method

The complete-active-space (CAS) extended Koopmans theorem (EKT) method is defined as a special case of the EKT in which the reference state is a CAS configuration interaction (CI) expansion and the electron removal operator acts only on the active orbitals. With these restrictions, the EKT is equivalent to the CI procedure involving all hole-state configurations derived from the active space of the reference wavefunction and has properties analogous to those of the original Koopmans theorem. The equivalence is used to demonstrate in a transparent manner that the first ionization energy predicted by the EKT is in general not exact, i.e., not equal to the difference between the full CI energies of the neutral and the ion, but can approach the full CI result with arbitrary precision even within a finite basis set. The findings also reconcile various statements about the EKT found in the literature.

Spectral Functions from Auxiliary-Field Quantum Monte Carlo without Analytic Continuation: The Extended Koopmans' Theorem Approach.

We explore the extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT) within the phaseless auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) method. The EKT allows for the direct calculation of electron addition and removal spectral functions using reduced density matrices of the N-particle system and avoids the need for analytic continuation. The lowest level of EKT with AFQMC, called EKT1-AFQMC, is benchmarked using atoms, small molecules, 14-electron and 54-electron uniform electron gas supercells, and a minimal unit cell model of diamond at the Γ-point. Via comparison with numerically exact results (when possible) and coupled-cluster methods, we find that EKT1-AFQMC can reproduce the qualitative features of spectral functions for Koopmans-like charge excitations with errors in peak locations of less than 0.25 eV in a finite basis. We also note the numerical difficulties that arise in the EKT1-AFQMC eigenvalue problem, especially when back-propagated quantities are very noisy. We show how a systematic higher-order EKT approach can correct errors in EKT1-based theories with respect to the satellite region of the spectral function. Our work will be of use for the study of low-energy charge excitations and spectral functions in correlated molecules and solids where AFQMC can be reliably performed for both energy and back propagation.

First Ionization Energy as the Asymptotic Limit of the Average Local Electron Energy.

The first vertical ionization energy of an atom or molecule is encoded in the rate of exponential decay of the exact natural orbitals. For natural orbitals represented in terms of Gaussian basis functions, this property does not hold even approximately. We show that it is nevertheless possible to deduce the first ionization energy from the long-range behavior of Gaussian-basis-set wave functions by evaluating the asymptotic limit of a quantity called the average local electron energy (ALEE), provided that the most diffuse functions of the basis set have a suitable shape and location. The ALEE method exposes subtle qualitative differences between seemingly analogous Gaussian basis sets and complements the extended Koopmans theorem by being robust in situations where the one-electron reduced density matrix is ill-conditioned.

Extended Koopmans' theorem in the adiabatic connection formalism: Applied to doubly hybrid density functionals.

A rigorous framework that combines the extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT) with the adiabatic connection (AC) formalism of density functional theory is developed here, namely, EKT-AC, to calculate the vertical ionization potentials (IPs) of molecular systems. When applied to the doubly hybrid density functional approximations (DH-DFAs), the EKT-DH approach is established for the B2PLYP-type DHs with one-parameter and two-parameters, as well as the XYG3-type DHs. Based on EKT-DH, an approximation of the KT type is introduced, leading to the KT-DH approach. The IP-condition that the calculated vertical IPs with EKT-DH or KT-DH are to reproduce the experimental IPs closely is applied to investigate the commonly used DH-DFAs for such a purpose and is utilized as a principle for DH-DFA developments. Considering the systematic improvements, as well as its numeric stability, we recommend the KT-B2GPPLYP approach as a pragmatic way for vertical IP calculations.

Computation of Molecular Ionization Energies Using an Ensemble Density Functional Theory Method.

Computation of the ionization energies and of the respective Dyson orbitals based on the use of the extended Koopmans theorem (EKT) is implemented in connection with an ensemble density functional theory (eDFT) method, the state-interaction state-averaged spin-restricted ensemble-referenced Kohn-Sham (SI-SA-REKS or SSR) method. The new methodology enables fast computation of the ionization energies and evaluation of the respective Dyson orbitals, the square norms of which are related with the ionization probabilities, in the ground and excited electronic states of molecules. As the application of EKT recycles the intermediate quantities from the SSR analytical energy gradient, evaluation of the ionization energies and probabilities can be carried out on-the-fly during the nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations. This opens up a perspective for fast theoretical simulation of the time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy observations. In the present work, the new methodology is tested in the computation of the ionization energies and Dyson orbitals of several molecules in the ground and excited electronic states, including strongly correlated species, such as the ozone molecule, dissociating chemical bonds, and conical intersections.

Extended Koopmans' theorem at the second‐order perturbation theory

The extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT), when combined with the second-order Møller-Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory through the relaxed density matrix approach [J. Cioslowski, P. Piskorz, and G. Liu, J. Chem. Phys. 1997, 107, 6,804], provides a straightforward way to calculate the ionization potentials (IPs) as an one electron quantity. However, such an EKT-MP2 method often suffers from the negative occupation problem, failing to provide the complete IP spectra for a system of interest. Here a small positive number scheme is proposed to cure this problem so as to remove the associated unphysical results. In order to obtain an in-depth physical interpretation of the EKT-MP2 method, we introduce a Koopmans-type quantity, named KT-MP2, based on which the respective contribution from the relaxation and the correlation parts in the EKT-MP2 results are recognized. Furthermore, the close relationship between the EKT-MP2 method and the derivative approach of the MP2 energy with respect to the orbital occupation numbers [N. Q. Su and X. Xu, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2015, 11, 4,677] is revealed. When these MP2-based methods are applied to a set of atoms and molecules, new insights are gained on the role played by the relaxation and the correlation effects in the electron ionization processes.

The Ubiquitous Extended Koopmans’ Theorem

The Koopmans’ theorem is a statement about the interpretation of Hartree–Fock eigenstates with several important generalizations. They allow for the extraction of excited electronic states starting from the ground state density correlators. Here, the theorem is applied to the computation of doubly excited states, that is, excited states containing a significat amount of doubly excited configurations. They are known to be difficult for time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and for the equation‐of‐motion (EOM) class of methods in general. Using two molecular systems trans‐butadiene and anthracene as examples, it is demonstrated that both, the self‐energy corrections and the corrections due to double electron transitions are important. Finally, the applicability of the extended Koopmans’ theorem (EKT) for the determination of spectral properties from the Matsubara Green's function (GF) approach and the Bethe–Salpeter equation are demonstrated.

Excited electronic states from a generalization of the extended Koopmans theorem

Inspired by the extended Koopmans theorem, we demonstrate that excited electronic states can efficiently and very accurately be computed from the ground-state density correlators. That this is possible in principle does not come as a surprise. However, what correlator order is needed is an important question. There are a number of methods that differ in the way in which higher-order correlators, which are very expensive to evaluate, are treated: the equation-of-motion approach, also known as the random phase approximation, the cumulant, and the Hermitian operator methods. Here it is shown that there exists, in fact, a close connection between the extended Koopmans theorem and the equation-of-motion approach. A dramatic improvement over the conventional linear-response calculations is numerically demonstrated for a paradigmatic molecular system and explained by comparing with the equation-of-motion approach for a single-determinant reference state and for the case of composite excitations. Our approach opens prospects for systematic improvements of the adiabatic approximation of the time-dependent density functional theory by exploiting properties of the correlated ground state.

State-of-the-Art Computations of Vertical Ionization Potentials with the Extended Koopmans' Theorem Integrated with the CCSD(T) Method.

The accurate computation of ionization potentials (IPs), within 0.10 eV, is one of the most challenging problems in modern computational chemistry. The extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT) provides a systematic direct approach to compute IPs from any level of theory. In this study, the EKT approach is integrated with the coupled-cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples [CCSD(T)] method for the first time. For efficiency, the density-fitting (DF) approximation is employed for electron repulsion integrals. Further, the EKT-CCSD(T) method is applied to a set of 23 molecules, denoted as IP23, for comparison with the experimental ionization potentials. For the IP23 set, the EKT-CCSD(T) method, along with the aug-cc-pV5Z basis set, provides a mean absolute error of 0.05 eV. Hence, our results demonstrate that direct computations of IPs at high-accuracy levels can be achieved with the EKT-CCSD(T) method. We believe that the present study may open new avenues in IP computations.

Extended Koopmans’ Approximation for CASDFT Exchange-Correlation Functional

A new density functional theory approach based on a complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) reference function in Extended Koopmans’ approximation is discussed. Recently, the number of generalizations of density functional theory based on a multiconfigurational CASSCF reference function with exact exchange (CASDFT) was introduced. It was shown by one of the authors (Dr. Gusarov) that such a theory could be formulated by introducing a special form of exchange-correlation potential. To take into account an active space and to avoid double counting of correlation energy the dependence from on-top pair density P2(r) as a new variable was introduced. Unfortunately, this requires a deep review and reparametrization of existing functional expressions which lead to additional computational difficulties. The presented approach does not require introducing additional variables (like on-top pair density, P2(r)) and is based on Extended Koopmans’ theorem (EKT) approximation for multiconfigurational wave function within CASSCF method.

Assessment of the extended Koopmans' theorem for the chemical reactivity: Accurate computations of chemical potentials, chemical hardnesses, and electrophilicity indices.

The extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT) provides a straightforward way to compute ionization potentials and electron affinities from any level of theory. Although it is widely applied to ionization potentials, the EKT approach has not been applied to evaluation of the chemical reactivity. We present the first benchmarking study to investigate the performance of the EKT methods for predictions of chemical potentials (μ) (hence electronegativities), chemical hardnesses (η), and electrophilicity indices (ω). We assess the performance of the EKT approaches for post-Hartree-Fock methods, such as Møller-Plesset perturbation theory, the coupled-electron pair theory, and their orbital-optimized counterparts for the evaluation of the chemical reactivity. Especially, results of the orbital-optimized coupled-electron pair theory method (with the aug-cc-pVQZ basis set) for predictions of the chemical reactivity are very promising; the corresponding mean absolute errors are 0.16, 0.28, and 0.09 eV for μ, η, and ω, respectively.

Accurate Electron Affinities from the Extended Koopmans' Theorem Based on Orbital-Optimized Methods.

The extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT) provides a systematic way to compute electron affinities (EAs) from any level of theory. Although, it is widely applied to ionization potentials, the EKT approach has not been extensively applied to computations of electron affinities. We present the first benchmarking study to investigate the performances of the EKT methods for predictions of EAs. We assess the performances of the EKT approaches based on orbital-optimized methods [Bozkaya, U. J. Chem. Phys. 2013, 139, 154105], such as the orbital-optimized third-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory and the orbital-optimized coupled-electron pair theory [OCEPA(0)], and their standard counterparts for EAs of the selected atoms, closed- and open-shell molecules. Especially, results of the OCEPA(0) method (with the aug-cc-pVQZ basis set) for EAs of the considered atoms and molecules are very promising, the corresponding mean absolute errors are 0.14 and 0.17 eV, respectively.

The extended Koopmans' theorem for orbital-optimized methods: Accurate computation of ionization potentials

The extended Koopmans' theorem (EKT) provides a straightforward way to compute ionization potentials (IPs) from any level of theory, in principle. However, for non-variational methods, such as Møller-Plesset perturbation and coupled-cluster theories, the EKT computations can only be performed as by-products of analytic gradients as the relaxed generalized Fock matrix (GFM) and one- and two-particle density matrices (OPDM and TPDM, respectively) are required [J. Cioslowski, P. Piskorz, and G. Liu, J. Chem. Phys. 107, 6804 (1997)]. However, for the orbital-optimized methods both the GFM and OPDM are readily available and symmetric, as opposed to the standard post Hartree-Fock (HF) methods. Further, the orbital optimized methods solve the N-representability problem, which may arise when the relaxed particle density matrices are employed for the standard methods, by disregarding the orbital Z-vector contributions for the OPDM. Moreover, for challenging chemical systems, where spin or spatial symmetry-breaking problems are observed, the abnormal orbital response contributions arising from the numerical instabilities in the HF molecular orbital Hessian can be avoided by the orbital-optimization. Hence, it appears that the orbital-optimized methods are the most natural choice for the study of the EKT. In this research, the EKT for the orbital-optimized methods, such as orbital-optimized second- and third-order Møller-Plesset perturbation [U. Bozkaya, J. Chem. Phys. 135, 224103 (2011)] and coupled-electron pair theories [OCEPA(0)] [U. Bozkaya and C. D. Sherrill, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 054104 (2013)], are presented. The presented methods are applied to IPs of the second- and third-row atoms, and closed- and open-shell molecules. Performances of the orbital-optimized methods are compared with those of the counterpart standard methods. Especially, results of the OCEPA(0) method (with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set) for the lowest IPs of the considered atoms and closed-shell molecules are substantially accurate, the corresponding mean absolute errors are 0.11 and 0.15 eV, respectively.

Electronic structure and photoelectron spectra of nickel(II) acetylacetonate

Density functional theory and photoelectron spectroscopy are used to study the electronic structure of nickel acetylacetonate Ni(acac)2. Based on the calculated energies and composition of the molecular orbitals and the pattern of localization of the electron density, the nature of the gas-phase photoelectron spectrum bands of Ni(acac)2 is examined, and a new interpretation of it is proposed. The energies of the Kohn-Sham orbitals are assigned to the experimental vertical ionization energies in the approximation of the extended Koopmans theorem, which enables, with consideration given to the dependence of the Koopmans defect on the nature of the electronic level, to obtain a good agreement between the calculated orbital energies and experimental data on ionization energies.

Ionization potentials from the extended Koopmans’ theorem applied to density matrix functional theory

The Lagrangian matrix of the density matrix functional theory (DMFT) is shown to be identical with the generalized Fock matrix that enters the extended Koopmans’ theorem (EKT), opening an avenue to computations of ionization potentials that avoids multiple energy-difference calculations. The performance of this new DMFT–EKT formalism is demonstrated with the ‘primitive’ DMFT functionals as an example.