Projected Hartree-Fock Theory Research Articles

Ground States of Heisenberg Spin Clusters from a Cluster-Based Projected Hartree–Fock Approach

Recent work on approximating ground states of Heisenberg spin clusters by projected Hartree–Fock theory (PHF) is extended to a cluster-based ansatz (cPHF). Whereas PHF variationally optimizes a site–spin product state for the restoration of spin- and point-group symmetry, cPHF groups sites into discrete clusters and uses a cluster-product state as the broken-symmetry reference. Intracluster correlation is thus already included at the mean-field level, and intercluster correlation is introduced through symmetry projection. Variants of cPHF differing in the broken and restored symmetries are evaluated for ground states and singlet-triplet gaps of antiferromagnetic spin rings for various cluster sizes, where cPHF in general affords a significant improvement over ordinary PHF, although the division into clusters lowers the cyclical symmetry. In contrast, certain two- or three-dimensional spin arrangements permit cluster groupings compatible with the full spatial symmetry. We accordingly demonstrate that cPHF yields approximate ground states with correct spin- and point-group quantum numbers for honeycomb lattice fragments and symmetric polyhedra.

A power series approximation in symmetry projected coupled cluster theory

Projected Hartree-Fock theory provides an accurate description of many kinds of strong correlations but does not properly describe weakly correlated systems. On the other hand, single-reference methods, such as configuration interaction or coupled cluster theory, can handle weakly correlated problems but cannot properly account for strong correlations. Ideally, we would like to combine these techniques in a symmetry-projected coupled cluster approach, but this is far from straightforward. In this work, we provide an alternative formulation to identify the so-called disentangled cluster operators, which arise when we combine these two methodological strands. Our formulation shows promising results for model systems and small molecules.

Ground states of Heisenberg spin clusters from projected Hartree-Fock theory

We apply the projected Hartree-Fock theory (PHF) for approximating ground states of Heisenberg spin clusters. Spin-rotational, point-group, and complex-conjugation symmetry are variationally restored from a broken-symmetry mean-field reference, where the latter corresponds to a product of local spin states. A fermionic formulation of the Heisenberg model furnishes a conceptual connection to PHF applications in quantum chemistry and detailed equations for a self-consistent field optimization of the reference state are provided. Different PHF variants are benchmarked for ground-state energies and spin-pair correlation functions of antiferromagnetic spin rings and three different polyhedra, with various values of the local spin-quantum number $s$. Although PHF is not suitable to study the thermodynamic limit (where it reduces to the conventional HF results), the low computational cost and the compact wave-function representation make PHF a promising complement to existing approaches for ground states of finite spin clusters, particularly for large local spin $s$ and a moderately large number of sites $N$. The present work may also motivate future explorations of more accurate post-PHF methods for Heisenberg spin clusters.

Hyperfine-Coupling Tensors from Projected Hartree-Fock Theory.

We assess the calculation of hyperfine coupling (HFC) tensors by different variants of Projected Hartree-Fock (PHF) theory. For a set of small main-group S = 1/2 radicals (BO, CO+, CN, AlO, vinyl, methyl, ethynyl), spin-symmetry as well as complex-conjugation and point-group symmetry are first broken in a reference determinant, and then variationally restored, in the frame of the modern formulation of PHF theory. Historically, PHF theory was basically restricted to the restoration of spin symmetry from an unrestricted HF determinant (conserving Sz symmetry). This afforded unsatisfactory HFCs. We obtain far better results for isotropic (and anisotropic) HFCs when the variational energy is further lowered by working with generalized determinants that completely break spin symmetry, and when additional symmetries are used. Specifically, complex-conjugation projection recovers a substantial fraction of the dynamical correlation energy in small molecules, and the detailed equations for combined complex-conjugation, spin- and point-group projection in the density-matrix/diagonalization formulation of PHF theory are here reported for the first time. The compact representation of the PHF wave function allows for a straightforward evaluation of the spin-density matrix and of HFC tensors with little effort. The promising performance of PHF theory may motivate the application of post-PHF methods to the calculation of HFC tensors.

Projected coupled cluster theory.

Coupled cluster theory is the method of choice for weakly correlated systems. But in the strongly correlated regime, it faces a symmetry dilemma, where it either completely fails to describe the system or has to artificially break certain symmetries. On the other hand, projected Hartree-Fock theory captures the essential physics of many kinds of strong correlations via symmetry breaking and restoration. In this work, we combine and try to retain the merits of these two methods by applying symmetry projection to broken symmetry coupled cluster wave functions. The non-orthogonal nature of states resulting from the application of symmetry projection operators furnishes particle-hole excitations to all orders, thus creating an obstacle for the exact evaluation of overlaps. Here we provide a solution via a disentanglement framework theory that can be approximated rigorously and systematically. Results of projected coupled cluster theory are presented for molecules and the Hubbard model, showing that spin projection significantly improves unrestricted coupled cluster theory while restoring good quantum numbers. The energy of projected coupled cluster theory reduces to the unprojected one in the thermodynamic limit, albeit at a much slower rate than projected Hartree-Fock.

Projected Hartree-Fock theory as a polynomial of particle-hole excitations and its combination with variational coupled cluster theory

Projected Hartree-Fock theory provides an accurate description of many kinds of strong correlations but does not properly describe weakly correlated systems. Coupled cluster theory, in contrast, does the opposite. It therefore seems natural to combine the two so as to describe both strong and weak correlations with high accuracy in a relatively black-box manner. Combining the two approaches, however, is made more difficult by the fact that the two techniques are formulated very differently. In earlier work, we showed how to write spin-projected Hartree-Fock in a coupled-cluster-like language. Here, we fill in the gaps in that earlier work. Further, we combine projected Hartree-Fock and coupled cluster theory in a variational formulation and show how the combination performs for the description of the Hubbard Hamiltonian and for several small molecular systems.

Communication: Projected Hartree Fock theory as a polynomial similarity transformation theory of single excitations

Spin-projected Hartree-Fock is written as a particle-hole excitation ansatz over a symmetry-adapted reference determinant. Remarkably, this expansion has an analytic expression that we were able to decipher. While the form of the polynomial expansion is universal, the excitation amplitudes need to be optimized. This is equivalent to the optimization of orbitals in the conventional projected Hartree-Fock framework of non-orthogonal determinants. Using the inverse of the particle-hole expansion, we similarity transform the Hamiltonian in a coupled-cluster style theory. The left eigenvector of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian is constructed in a similar particle-hole expansion fashion, and we show that to numerically reproduce variational projected Hartree-Fock results, one needs as many pair excitations in the bra as the number of strongly correlated entangled pairs in the system. This single-excitation polynomial similarity transformation theory is an alternative to our recently presented double excitation theory, but supports projected Hartree-Fock and coupled cluster simultaneously rather than interpolating between them.

Subtractive manufacturing with geminal powers:making good use of a bad wave function

ABSTRACTThe cluster Jastrow antisymmetric geminal power ansatz was recently introduced as a promising approach for treating weak and strong electron correlations simultaneously. One crucial aspect of this ansatz is that the Jastrow operator allows the geminal power to achieve size consistency through the deletion of unphysical ionic terms. Here, we present data suggesting that the effects of such deletions go much deeper, causing the geminal to ‘intentionally’ take on a highly unphysical form that, in the presence of the Jastrow's deletions, nonetheless results in an accurate final wave function, a process that we note is similar to the variation-after-projection approach of projected Hartree–Fock theory. Indeed, in both LiF and N2, we show that the optimal geminal is quite unphysical if considered on its own, but in ways that the Jastrow easily corrects to yield a highly accurate final wave function.

Symmetry broken and restored coupled-cluster theory: I. Rotational symmetry and angular momentum

We extend coupled-cluster (CC) theory performed on top of a Slater determinant breaking rotational symmetry to allow for the exact restoration of the angular momentum at any truncation order. The main objective relates to the description of near-degenerate finite quantum systems with an open-shell character. As such, the newly developed many-body formalism offers a wealth of potential applications and further extensions dedicated to the ab initio description of, e.g., doubly open-shell atomic nuclei and molecule dissociation. The formalism, which encompasses both single-reference CC theory and projected Hartree–Fock theory as particular cases, permits the computation of usual sets of connected diagrams while consistently incorporating static correlations through the highly non-perturbative restoration of rotational symmetry. Interestingly, the yrast spectroscopy of the system, i.e. the lowest energy associated with each angular momentum, is accessed within a single calculation. A key difficulty presently overcome relates to the necessity to handle generalized energy and norm kernels for which naturally terminating CC expansions could be eventually obtained. The present work focuses on SU(2) but can be extended to any (locally) compact Lie group and to discrete groups, such as most point groups. In particular, the formalism will be soon generalized to U(1) symmetry associated with particle number conservation. This is relevant to Bogoliubov CC theory that was recently applied to singly open-shell nuclei.

Linearized Jastrow-style fluctuations on spin-projected Hartree-Fock

The accurate and efficient description of strong electronic correlations remains an important objective in electronic structure theory. Projected Hartree-Fock theory, where symmetries of the Hamiltonian are deliberately broken and projectively restored, all with a mean-field computational scaling, shows considerable promise in this regard. However, the method is neither size extensive nor size consistent; in other words, the correlation energy per particle beyond broken-symmetry mean field vanishes in the thermodynamic limit, and the dissociation limit of a molecule is not the sum of the fragment energies. These two problems are closely related. Recently, Neuscamman [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 203001 (2012)] has proposed a method to cure the lack of size consistency in the context of the antisymmetrized geminal power wave function (equivalent to number-projected Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov) by using a Jastrow-type correlator in Hilbert space. Here, we apply the basic idea in the context of projected Hartree-Fock theory, linearizing the correlator for computational simplicity but extending it to include spin fluctuations. Results are presented for the Hubbard Hamiltonian and for some simple molecular systems.

Entanglement and Polyradical Character of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Predicted by Projected Hartree–Fock Theory

We study strong correlation effects in a series of fused benzene rings (acenes) of varying length and width using our recently developed projected Hartree-Fock (PHF) method. These molecules, commonly known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or nanographenes, are very challenging for electronic structure theory because of their strong multireference character. This challenge is here met by PHF at moderate computational cost optimizing a spin eigenfunction obtained by projection of an unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) trial determinant. The resulting method, known as SUHF, predicts that polyradical behavior and orbital entanglement are enhanced with molecular size, especially in systems whose structural motifs are dominated by zigzag edges, like oligoacenes.

Projected Hartree–Fock theory

Projected Hartree-Fock (PHF) theory has a long history in quantum chemistry. PHF is here understood as the variational determination of an N-electron broken symmetry Slater determinant that minimizes the energy of a projected state with the correct quantum numbers. The method was actively pursued for several decades but seems to have been abandoned. We here derive and implement a "variation after projection" PHF theory using techniques different from those previously employed in quantum chemistry. Our PHF methodology has modest mean-field computational cost, yields relatively simple expressions, can be applied to both collinear and non-collinear spin cases, and can be used in conjunction with deliberate symmetry breaking and restoration of other molecular symmetries like complex conjugation and point group. We present several benchmark applications to dissociation curves and singlet-triplet energy splittings, showing that the resulting PHF wavefunctions are of high quality multireference character. We also provide numerical evidence that in the thermodynamic limit, the energy in PHF is not lower than that of broken-symmetry HF, a simple consequence of the lack of size consistency and extensivity of PHF.

The spin components of skyrme interactions and spectra of light deformed nuclei

In the framework of the projected Hartree-Fock theory in which the breaking of the LS symmetry has been allowed, the influence of different spin components of the Skyrme interaction is analyzed.

Positive-parity states in odd p-shell nuclei

Abstract The position of the lowest positive-parity state in odd p-shell nuclei is calculated in the framework of projected Hartree-Fock theory, using the interaction of Volkov. The agreement with experiment is good in the first half of the 0p shell but becomes less good towards the end. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.

Projected spectra of light nuclei with Skyrme interactions

In the framework of the projected Hartree-Fock theory, rotational bands in light nuclei are described using Skyrme interactions. Comparison with traditional interactions and discussion of the Skyrme parametrization are made. A Skyrme interaction is derived which allows a better description of rotational bands and α-type excited bands. This is achieved through a modification of the parameter of the velocity dependent part of the force.

Collective states in 48V

The low-lying positive parity states of 48V have been studied in the framework of deformed configuration mixing model calculations based on projected Hartree-Fock theory, within the full fp shell space. The modified Kuo-Brown effective interaction has been used. The calculated spectrum and the electromagnetic properties of these states are in good agreement with the experiment. The calculation predicts an excited low-lying collective K = 2 + band in the spectrum of 48V and accounts for the observed breakdown of the “signature” selection rule arising in the shell-model calculation within the ( f 7 2 ) nd space. It does not favour a 5 + assignment to the observed 1.099 MeV level. Two sets of proton and neutron effective charges (i) e p = 1.32 e and e n = 0.89 e and (ii) Kuo and Osnes charges e p = 1.25 e and e n = 0.47 e were employed. The observed decay properties appear to favour the latter charges. Our model also explains in a semiquantitative way the observed K-value, moment of inertia parameter and the intrinsic quadrupole moment of the K = 1 −1 rotational band.