Search

We devise a nonlocal correlation energy functional that describes the entire range of dispersion interactions in a seamless fashion using only the electron density as input. The new functional is considerably simpler than its predecessors of a similar type. The functional has a tractable and robust analytic form that lends itself to efficient self-consistent implementation. When paired with an appropriate exchange functional, our nonlocal correlation model yields accurate interaction energies of weakly-bound complexes, not only near the energy minima but also far from equilibrium. Our model exhibits an outstanding precision at predicting equilibrium intermonomer separations in van der Waals complexes. It also gives accurate covalent bond lengths and atomization energies. Hence the functional proposed in this work is a computationally inexpensive electronic structure tool of broad applicability.

A local approximation for dynamic polarizability leads to a nonlocal functional for the long-range dispersion interaction energy via an imaginary-frequency integral. We analyze several local polarizability approximations and argue that the form underlying the construction of our recent van der Waals functional [O. A. Vydrov and T. Van Voorhis, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 063004 (2009)] is particularly well physically justified. Using this improved formula, we compute dynamic dipole polarizabilities and van der Waals C_6 coefficients for a set of atoms and molecules. Good agreement with the benchmark values is obtained in most cases.

We assess the performance of recent density functionals for the exchange-correlation energy of a nonmolecular solid, by applying accurate calculations with the GAUSSIAN, BAND, and VASP codes to a test set of 24 solid metals and non-metals. The functionals tested are the modified Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation (PBEsol GGA), the second-order GGA (SOGGA), and the Armiento-Mattsson 2005 (AM05) GGA. For completeness, we also test more-standard functionals: the local density approximation, the original PBE GGA, and the Tao-Perdew-Staroverov-Scuseria (TPSS) meta-GGA. We find that the recent density functionals for solids reach a high accuracy for bulk properties (lattice constant and bulk modulus). For the cohesive energy, PBE is better than PBEsol overall, as expected, but PBEsol is actually better for the alkali metals and alkali halides. For fair comparison of calculated and experimental results, we consider the zero-point phonon and finite-temperature effects ignored by many workers. We show how Gaussian basis sets and inaccurate experimental reference data may affect the rating of the quality of the functionals. The results show that PBEsol and AM05 perform somewhat differently from each other for alkali metal, alkaline earth metal and alkali halide crystals (where the maximum value of the reduced density gradient is about 2), but perform very similarly for most of the other solids (where it is often about 1). Our explanation for this is consistent with the importance of exchange-correlation nonlocality in regions of core-valence overlap., Comment: 32 pages, single pdf file

Successful modern generalized gradient approximations (GGA's) are biased toward atomic energies. Restoration of the first-principles gradient expansion for exchange over a wide range of density gradients eliminates this bias. We introduce PBEsol, a revised Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof GGA that improves equilibrium properties of densely-packed solids and their surfaces., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

Successful modern generalized gradient approximations (GGA) are biased toward atomic energies. Restoration of the first-principles gradient expansion for the exchange energy over a wide range of density gradients eliminates this bias. We introduce PBEsol, a revised Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof GGA that improves equilibrium properties for many densely-packed solids and their surfaces., Comment: 4pages, 2figures,2tables

While the exact total energy of a separated open system varies linearly as a function of average electron number between adjacent integers, the energy predicted by semi-local density functional approximations curves upward and the exact-exchange-only or Hartree-Fock energy downward. As a result, semi-local density functionals fail for separated open systems of fluctuating electron number, as in stretched molecular ions A$_2^{+}$ and in solid transition metal oxides. We develop an exact-exchange theory and an exchange-hole sum rule that explain these failures and we propose a way to correct them via a local hybrid functional., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures