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We present a combined equation of motion coupled-cluster cumulant Green's function approach for calculating and understanding intrinsic inelastic losses in core level x-ray absorption spectra (XAS) and x-ray photoemission spectra. The method is based on a factorization of the transition amplitude in the time domain, which leads to a convolution of an effective one-body absorption spectrum and the core-hole spectral function. The spectral function characterizes intrinsic losses in terms of shake-up excitations and satellites using a cumulant representation of the core-hole Green's function that simplifies the interpretation. The one-body spectrum also includes orthogonality corrections that enhance the XAS at the edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The real‐space Green's function code FEFF has been extensively developed and used for calculations of X‐ray and related spectra, including X‐ray absorption (XAS), X‐ray emission (XES), inelastic X‐ray scattering, and electron energy‐loss spectra. The code is particularly useful for the analysis and interpretation of the XAS fine‐structure (EXAFS) and the near‐edge structure (XANES) in materials throughout the periodic table. Nevertheless, many applications, such as non‐equilibrium systems, and the analysis of ultra‐fast pump–probe experiments, require extensions of the code including finite‐temperature and auxiliary calculations of structure and vibrational properties. To enable these extensions, we have developed in tandem a new version FEFF10 and new FEFF‐based workflows for the Corvus workflow manager, which allow users to easily augment the capabilities of FEFF10 via auxiliary codes. This coupling facilitates simplified input and automated calculations of spectra based on advanced theoretical techniques. The approach is illustrated with examples of high‐temperature behavior, vibrational properties, many‐body excitations in XAS, super‐heavy materials, and fits of calculated spectra to experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the origin and physical effects of "dynamic structural disorder" (DSD) in supported nano-scale catalysts. DSD refers to the intrinsic fluctuating, inhomogeneous structure of such nanoscale systems. In contrast to bulk materials, nano-scale systems exhibit substantial fluctuations in structure, charge, temperature, and other quantities, as well as large surface effects. The DSD is driven largely by the stochastic librational motion of the center of mass and fluxional bonding at the nanoparticle surface due to thermal coupling with the substrate. Our approach for calculating and understanding DSD is based on a combination of real-time density functional theory/ molecular dynamics simulations, transient coupled-oscillator models, and statistical mechanics. This approach treats thermal and dynamic effects over multiple time-scales, and includes bondstretching and -bending vibrations, and transient tethering to the substrate at longer ps time-scales. Potential effects on the catalytic properties of these clusters are briefly explored. Model calculations of molecule-cluster interactions and molecular dissociation reaction paths are presented in which the reactant molecules are adsorbed on the surface of dynamically sampled clusters. This model suggests that DSD can affect both the prefactors and distribution of energy barriers in reaction rates, and thus can significantly affect catalytic activity at the nano-scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New theoretical and experimental investigations of the occupied and unoccupied local electronic densities of states (DOS) are reported for α-Li3N. Band-structure and density-functional theory calculations confirm the absence of covalent bonding character. However, real-space full-multiple-scattering (RSFMS) calculations of the occupied local DOS find less extreme nominal valences than have previously been proposed. Nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering, RSFMS calculations, and calculations based on the Bethe–Salpeter equation are used to characterize the unoccupied electronic final states local to both the Li and N sites. There is a good agreement between experiment and theory. Throughout the Li 1s near-edge region, both experiment and theory find strong similarities in the s-and p-type components of the unoccupied local final DOS projected onto an orbital angular momentum basis (l-DOS). An unexpected, significant correspondence exists between the near-edge spectra for the Li 1s and N 1s initial states. We argue that both spectra are sampling essentially the same final DOS due to the combination of long core-hole lifetimes, long photoelectron lifetimes, and the fact that orbital angular momentum is the same for all relevant initial states. Such considerations may be generally applicable for low atomic number compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present ab initio calculations of frequency-dependent linear and nonlinear optical responses based on real-time time-dependent density functional theory for arbitrary photonic molecules. This approach is based on an extension of an approach previously implemented for a linear response using the electronic structure program SIESTA. Instead of calculating excited quantum states, which can be a bottleneck in frequency-space calculations, the response of large molecular systems to time-varying electric fields is calculated in real time. This method is based on the finite field approach generalized to the dynamic case. To speed the nonlinear calculations, our approach uses Gaussian enveloped quasimonochromatic external fields. We thereby obtain the frequency-dependent second harmonic generation β(-2ω;ω,ω), the dc nonlinear rectification β(0;-ω,ω), and the electro-optic effect β(-ω;ω,0). The method is applied to nanoscale photonic nonlinear optical molecules, including p-nitroaniline and the FTC chromophore, i.e., 2-[3-Cyano-4-(2-{5-[2-(4-diethylamino-phenyl)-vinyl] - thiophen-2-yl} - vinyl)-5,5-dimethyl-5H-furan-2-ylidene]- malononitrile, and yields results in good agreement with experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corvus, a Python‐based package designed for managing workflows of physical simulations that utilize multiple scientific software packages, is presented. Corvus can be run as an executable script with an input file and automatically generated or custom workflows, or interactively, in order to build custom workflows with a set of Corvus‐specific tools. Several prototypical examples are presented that link density functional, vibrational and X‐ray spectroscopy software packages and are of interest to the synchrotron community. These examples highlight the simplification of complex spectroscopy calculations that were previously limited to expert users, and demonstrate the flexibility of the Corvus infrastructure to tackle more general problems in other research areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transferable potential energy function for describing the interaction between water molecules is presented. The electrostatic interaction is described rigorously using a multipole expansion. Only one expansion center is used per molecule to avoid the introduction of monopoles. This single center approach turns out to converge and give close agreement with ab initio calculations when carried out up to and including the hexadecapole. Both dipole and quadrupole polarizability are included. All parameters in the electrostatic interaction as well as the dispersion interaction are taken from ab initio calculations or experimental measurements of a single water molecule. The repulsive part of the interaction is parametrized to fit ab initio calculations of small water clusters and experimental measurements of ice Ih. The parametrized potential function was then used to simulate liquid water and the results agree well with experiment, even better than simulations using some of the point charge potentials fitted to liquid water. The evaluation of the new interaction potential for condensed phases is fast because point charges are not present and the interaction can, to a good approximation, be truncated at a finite range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a local time-correlation function method for real-time calculations of core level x-ray spectra (RTXS). The approach is implemented in a local orbital basis using a Crank-Nicolson time-evolution algorithm applied to an extension of the SIESTA code, together with projector augmented wave (PAW) atomic transition matrix elements. Our RTXS is formally equivalent to ASCF (Δ self consistent field) Fermi's golden rule calculations with a screened core-hole and an effective independent particle approximation. Illustrative calculations are presented for several molecular and condensed matter systems and found to be in good agreement with experiment. The method can also be advantageous compared to conventional frequency-space methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High resolution inelastic x-ray scattering experiments are widely used to study the electronic and chemical properties of materials under a range of conditions, from ambient temperature to the warm dense matter regime. We use the real-space multiple scattering (RSMS) Green's function formalism coupled with density functional theory molecular dynamics (DFT-MD) to study thermal effects on the Compton profile (CP) of disordered systems. The RSMS method is advantageous for calculations of highly disordered, aperiodic systems because it places no restriction on symmetry. As a test, we apply our approach to thermally disordered Be, Li, and Si in both liquid and solid phases. We find good agreement with experimental and other theoretical results, showing that the real-space multiple scattering approach coupled with DFT-MD is an efficient and reliable method for calculating the CP of disordered systems at finite temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray photoemission spectra generally exhibit satellite features beyond the main peak due to many-body excitations. However, the satellites associated with charge-transfer excitations in correlated materials have proved difficult to calculate from first principles and their interpretation has been controversial. Here we show that these satellites can be attributed to local density fluctuations in response to a suddenly created core hole. Our approach is based on a cumulant representation of the core-hole Green's function with a real-time, time-dependent density functional theory calculation of the cumulant. This approach includes effects that cannot be accounted for by cluster methods and yields a direct real-space, real-time interpretation. Illustrative results for TiO2 and NiO are in good agreement with XPS experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review: 24 refs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe an approach for calculations of phonon contributions to the electron spectral function, including both quasiparticle properties and satellites. The method is based on a cumulant expansion for the retarded one-electron Green's function and a many-pole model for the electron self-energy. Pole models are also used for the phonon density of states and the Eliashberg functions. Our calculations incorporate ab initio dynamical matrices and electron-phonon couplings from the density functional theory. Illustrative results are presented for several elemental metals and for Einstein and Debye models with a range of coupling constants. These are compared with experiment and other theoretical models. Estimates of corrections to Migdal's theorem are obtained by comparing with leading order contributions to the self-energy, and are found to be significant only for large electron-phonon couplings and low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical optical and x-ray spectra of model structures of water and ice are calculated using a many-body perturbation theory, Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) approach implemented in the valence- and core-excitation codes AI2NBSE and OCEAN. These codes use ab initio density functional theory wave functions from a plane-wave, pseudopotential code, quasiparticle self-energy corrections, and a BSE treatment of particle-hole interactions. This approach improves upon independent-particle methods through the inclusion of a complex, energy-dependent self-energy and screened particle-hole interactions to account for inelastic losses and excitonic effects. These many-body effects are found to be crucial for quantitative calculations of ice and water spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray photoemission spectroscopy is used in a great variety of research fields; one observable is the sample's stoichiometry. The stoichiometry can be deduced based on the expectation that the ionization cross sections for innershell Orbitals are independent of the molecular composition. Here we used chlorine-substituted ethanes in the gas phase to investigate the apparent carbon stoichiometry. We observe a nonstoichiometric ratio for a wide range of photon energies, the ratio exhibits x-ray-absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS)-like oscillations and hundreds of eV above the C\s ionization approaches a value far from 1. These effects can be accounted for by considering the scattering of the outgoing photoelectron, which we model by multiple-scattering EXAFS calculations, and by considering the effects of losses due to monopole shakeup and shakeoff and to intramolecular inelastic scattering processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present calculated valence and C 1s near-edge excitation spectra of solid C60 and experimental results measured with high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy. The near-edge calculations are carried out using three different methods: solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) as implemented in the ocean suite (Obtaining Core Excitations with Ab Initio methods and the NIST BSE solver), the excited-electron core-hole approach, and the constrained-occupancy method using the Stockholm-Berlin core excitation code, StoBe. The three methods give similar results and are in good agreement with experiment, though the BSE results are the most accurate. The BSE formalism is also used to carry out valence level calculations using the NIST BSE solver. Theoretical results include self-energy corrections to the band gap and bandwidths, lifetime-damping effects, and Debye-Waller effects in the core excitation case. A comparison of spectral features to those observed experimentally illustrates the sensitivity of certain features to computational details, such as self-energy corrections to the band structure and core-hole screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]