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Tkatchenko, Alexandre

Publications and source records attributed to Tkatchenko, Alexandre.

22 records · Page 2
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DOE OSTI2014

Long-range correlation energy calculated from coupled atomic response functions

An accurate determination of the electron correlation energy is an essential prerequisite for describing the structure, stability, and function in a wide variety of systems. Therefore, the development of efficient approaches for the calculation of the correlation energy (and hence the dispersion energy as well) is essential and such methods can be coupled with many density-functional approximations, local methods for the electron correlation energy, and even interatomic force fields. In this work, we build upon the previously developed many-body dispersion (MBD) framework, which is intimately linked to the random-phase approximation for the correlation energy. We separate the correlation energy into short-range contributions that are modeled by semi-local functionals and long-range contributions that are calculated by mapping the complex all-electron problem onto a set of atomic response functions coupled in the dipole approximation. We propose an effective range-separation of the coupling between the atomic response functions that extends the already broad applicability of the MBD method to non-metallic materials with highly anisotropic responses, such as layered nanostructures. Application to a variety of high-quality benchmark datasets illustrates the accuracy and applicability of the improved MBD approach, which offers the prospect of first-principles modeling of large structurally complex systems with an accurate description of the long-range correlation energy.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

On the accuracy of van der Waals inclusive density-functional theory exchange-correlation functionals for ice at ambient and high pressures

Density-functional theory (DFT) has been widely used to study water and ice for at least 20 years. However, the reliability of different DFT exchange-correlation (xc) functionals for water remains a matter of considerable debate. This is particularly true in light of the recent development of DFT based methods that account for van der Waals (vdW) dispersion forces. Here, we report a detailed study with several xc functionals (semi-local, hybrid, and vdW inclusive approaches) on ice Ih and six proton ordered phases of ice. Consistent with our previous study [B. Santra, J. Klimeš, D. Alfè, A. Tkatchenko, B. Slater, A. Michaelides, R. Car, and M. Scheffler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 185701 (2011)] which showed that vdW forces become increasingly important at high pressures, we find here that all vdW inclusive methods considered improve the relative energies and transition pressures of the high-pressure ice phases compared to those obtained with semi-local or hybrid xc functionals. However, we also find that significant discrepancies between experiment and the vdW inclusive approaches remain in the cohesive properties of the various phases, causing certain phases to be absent from the phase diagram. Therefore, room for improvement in the description of water at ambient and high pressures remains and we suggest that because of the stern test the high pressure ice phases pose they should be used in future benchmark studies of simulation methods for water.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

First-Principles Modeling of Non-Covalent Interactions in Supramolecular Systems: The Role of Many-Body Effects

Supramolecular host–guest systems play an important role for a wide range of applications in chemistry and biology. The prediction of the stability of host–guest complexes represents a great challenge to first-principles calculations due to an interplay of a wide variety of covalent and noncovalent interactions in these systems. In particular, van der Waals (vdW) dispersion interactions frequently play a prominent role in determining the structure, stability, and function of supramolecular systems. On the basis of the widely used benchmark case of the buckyball catcher complex (C60@C60H28), we assess the feasibility of computing the binding energy of supramolecular host–guest complexes from first principles. Large-scale diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations are carried out to accurately determine the binding energy for the C60@C60H28 complex (26 ± 2 kcal/mol). On the basis of the DMC reference, we assess the accuracy of widely used and efficient density-functional theory (DFT) methods with dispersion interactions. The inclusion of vdW dispersion interactions in DFT leads to a large stabilization of the C60@C60H28 complex. However, DFT methods including pairwise vdW interactions overestimate the stability of this complex by 9–17 kcal/mol compared to the DMC reference and the extrapolated experimental data. A significant part of this overestimation (9 kcal/mol) stems from the lack of dynamical dielectric screening effects in the description of the molecular polarizability in pairwise dispersion energy approaches. The remaining overstabilization arises from the isotropic treatment of atomic polarizability tensors and the lack of many-body dispersion interactions. A further assessment of a different supramolecular system – glycine anhydride interacting with an amide macrocycle – demonstrates that both the dynamical screening and the many-body dispersion energy are complex contributions that are very sensitive to the underlying molecular geometry and type of bonding. We discuss the required improvements in theoretical methods for achieving “chemical accuracy” in the first-principles modeling of supramolecular systems.

Chemistry↗