Symmetry-projected Hartree-Fock Research Articles

Spin-projected generalized Hartree-Fock method as a polynomial of particle-hole excitations

The past several years have seen renewed interest in the use of symmetry-projected Hartree-Fock for the description of strong correlations. Unfortunately, these symmetry-projected mean-field methods do not adequately account for dynamic correlation. Presumably, this shortcoming could be addressed if one could combine symmetry-projected Hartree-Fock with a many-body method such as coupled cluster theory, but this is by no means straightforward because the two techniques are formulated in very different ways. However, we have recently shown that the singlet $S^2$-projected unrestricted Hartree-Fock wave function can in fact be written in a coupled cluster-like wave function: that is, the spin-projected unrestricted Hartree-Fock wave function can be written as a polynomial of a double-excitation operator acting on some closed-shell reference determinant. Here, we extend this result and show that the spin-projected generalized Hartree-Fock wave function (which has both $S^2$ and $S_z$ projection) is likewise a polynomial of low-order excitation operators acting on a closed-shell determinant, and provide a closed-form expression for the resulting polynomial coefficients. We include a few preliminary applications of the combination of this spin-projected Hartree-Fock and coupled cluster theory to the Hubbard Hamiltonian, and comment on generalizations of the methodology. Results here are not for production level, but a similarity transformed theory that combines the two offers the promise of being accurate for both weak and strong correlation, and particularly may offer significant improvements in the intermediate correlation regime where neither projected Hartree-Fock nor coupled cluster is particularly accurate.

General technique for analytical derivatives of post-projected Hartree-Fock.

In electronic structure theory, the availability of an analytical derivative is one of the desired features for a method to be useful in practical applications, as it allows for geometry optimization as well as computation of molecular properties. With the recent advances in the development of symmetry-projected Hartree-Fock (PHF) methods, we here aim at further extensions by devising the analytic gradients of post-PHF approaches with a special focus on spin-extended (spin-projected) configuration interaction with single and double substitutions (ECISD). Just like standard single-reference methods, the mean-field PHF part does not require the corresponding coupled-perturbed equation to be solved, while the correlation energy term needs the orbital relaxation effect to be accounted for, unless the underlying molecular orbitals are variationally optimized in the presence of the correlation energy. We present a general strategy for post-PHF analytical gradients, which closely parallels that for single-reference methods, yet addressing the major difference between them. The similarity between ECISD and multi-reference CI not only in the energy but also in the optimized geometry is clearly demonstrated by the numerical examples of ozone and cyclobutadiene.

Symmetry-projected wave functions in quantum Monte Carlo calculations

We consider symmetry-projected Hartree-Fock trial wave functions in constrained-path Monte Carlo (CPMC) calculations. Previous CPMC calculations have mostly employed Hartree-Fock (HF) trial wave functions, restricted or unrestricted. The symmetry-projected HF approach results in a hierarchy of wave functions with increasing quality: the more symmetries that are broken and restored in a self-consistent manner, the higher the quality of the trial wave function. This hierarchy is approximately maintained in CPMC calculations: the accuracy in the energy increases and the statistical variance decreases when further symmetries are broken and restored. Significant improvement is achieved in CPMC with the best symmetry-projected trial wave functions over those from simple HF. We analyze and quantify the behavior using the two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model as an example. In the sign-problem-free region, where CPMC can be made exact but a constraint is deliberately imposed here, spin-projected wave functions remove the constraint bias. Away from half filling, spatial symmetry restoration in addition to that of the spin leads to highly accurate results from CPMC. Since the computational cost of symmetry-projected HF trial wave functions in CPMC can be made to scale algebraically with system size, this provides a potentially general approach for accurate calculations in many-fermion systems.

Potential energy curves for Mo2: multi-component symmetry-projected Hartree–Fock and beyond

The molybdenum dimer is an example of a transition metal system with a formal sextuple bond that constitutes a challenging case for ab initio quantum chemistry methods. In particular, the complex binding pattern in the Mo2 molecule requires a high-quality description of non-dynamic and dynamic electron correlation in order to yield the correct shape of the potential energy curve. The present study examines the performance of a recently implemented multi-component symmetry projected Hartree–Fock (HF) approach. In this work, the spin and spatial symmetries of a trial wavefunction written in terms of non-orthogonal Slater determinants are deliberately broken and then restored in a variation-after-projection framework. The resulting symmetry-projected HF wavefunctions, which possess well-defined quantum numbers, can account for static and some dynamic correlations. A single symmetry-projected configuration in a D∞hS-UHF or a D∞hKS-UHF framework offers a reasonable description of the potential energy curve of Mo2, though the binding energy is too small for the former. Our multi-component strategy offers a way to improve on the single configuration result in a systematic way towards the exact wavefunction: in the def2-TZVP basis set considered in this study, a 7-determinant multi-component D∞hS-UHF approach yields a bond length of 2.01 Å, in good agreement with experimental results, while the predicted binding energy is 39.2 mhartree. The results of this exploratory study suggest that a multi-component symmetry-projected HF stategy is a promising alternative in a high-accuracy description of the electronic structure of challenging systems. We also present and discuss some benchmark calculations based on the CEEIS-FCI (correlation energy extrapolation by intrinsic scaling – full configuration interaction) method for selected geometries.

Excited electronic states from a variational approach based on symmetry-projected Hartree–Fock configurations

Recent work from our research group has demonstrated that symmetry-projected Hartree-Fock (HF) methods provide a compact representation of molecular ground state wavefunctions based on a superposition of non-orthogonal Slater determinants. The symmetry-projected ansatz can account for static correlations in a computationally efficient way. Here we present a variational extension of this methodology applicable to excited states of the same symmetry as the ground state. Benchmark calculations on the C2 dimer with a modest basis set, which allows comparison with full configuration interaction results, indicate that this extension provides a high quality description of the low-lying spectrum for the entire dissociation profile. We apply the same methodology to obtain the full low-lying vertical excitation spectrum of formaldehyde, in good agreement with available theoretical and experimental data, as well as to a challenging model C2v insertion pathway for BeH2. The variational excited state methodology developed in this work has two remarkable traits: it is fully black-box and will be applicable to fairly large systems thanks to its mean-field computational cost.

Particle-number-projected Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov study with effective shell model interactions

We perform the particle-number-projected mean-field study using the recently developed symmetry-projected Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov (HFB) equations. Realistic calculations have been performed in sd- and fp-shell nuclei using the shell model empirical interactions, USD and GXPFIA. It is demonstrated that the mean-field results for energy surfaces, obtained with these shell model interactions, are quite similar to those obtained using the density functional approaches. Further, it is shown that particle-number-projected results, for neutron-rich isotopes, can lead to different ground-state shapes in comparison to bare HFB calculations.

Symmetry-projected Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov equations

Symmetry-projected Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov (HFB) equations are derived using the variational ansatz for the generalized one-body density matrix in the Valatin form. It is shown that the projected-energy functional can be completely expressed in terms of the HFB density matrix and the pairing-tensor. The variation of this projected energy is shown to result in HFB equations with modified expressions for the pairing-potential Δ and the Hartree–Fock field Γ. The expressions for these quantities are explicitly derived for the case of particle number projection. The numerical applicability of this projection method is studied in an exactly soluble model of a deformed single-j shell.