P. Bultinck

More insight in multiple bonding with valence bond theory

K. Hendrickx, B. Braida, P. Bultinck, P. C. Hiberty
Computational and Theoretical Chemistry
1053, pp. 180-188
2015
A1
Published while none of the authors were employed at the CMM

Abstract 

An original procedure is proposed, based on valence bond theory, to calculate accurate dissociation energies for multiply bonded molecules, while always dealing with extremely compact wave functions involving three valence bond structures at most. The procedure consists of dividing the bond-breaking into sequential steps, thus breaking one by one the separate components of the multiple bond. By using the breathing-orbital valence bond method (Hiberty and Shaik, 2002), it is ensured that both static and dynamic differential electron correlations are taken into account in each step. The procedure is illustrated for typical examples of multiply bonded molecules, N2, C2 and CO. The so-calculated total dissociation energies are at par with accurate calculations by state-of-the-art standard methods in the same basis set. The procedure also allows one to get some deep insight into the properties of the individual bonds that constitute the multiple bond. A so-called quasi-classical state is defined, in which the electrons of the bond under study have only one spin arrangement pattern, αβ, thus disabling the exchange of the two spin arrangements that is necessary for a covalent bonding interaction to take place. Taking this quasi-classical state as a non-bonded reference, one may estimate the “in-situ bonding energy” of an individual bond, as calculated at the molecular equilibrium geometry and in the presence of the other electrons. The procedure may also be used to assess the preferred bond length of an individual bond, which is shown to amount to 1.33 Å for the σ bond of N2, while the π bonds get stronger and stronger as the interatomic distance is shortened. Another application is the calculation of the resonance energy arising from the mixing of the ionic components of an individual bond to its covalent component, and the comparison of this resonance energy with the in-situ bonding energy. This shows that the σ bond of N2 and C2 is a classical covalent bond. On the other hand, the π bonds have a substantial resonance energy that put them close to the category of charge-shift bonds.

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comptc.2014.09.007

Non-Variational Orbital Optimization Techniques for the AP1roG Wave Function

K. Boguslawski, P. Tecmer, P.W. Ayers, P. Bultinck, S. De Baerdemacker, D. Van Neck
Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation (JCTC)
10 (11), 4873-4882
2014
A1

Abstract 

We introduce new nonvariational orbital optimization schemes for the antisymmetric product of one-reference orbital geminal (AP1roG) wave function (also known as pair-coupled cluster doubles) that are extensions to our recently proposed projected seniority-two (PS2-AP1roG) orbital optimization method [ J. Chem. Phys. 2014, 140, 214114)]. These approaches represent less stringent approximations to the PS2-AP1roG ansatz and prove to be more robust approximations to the variational orbital optimization scheme than PS2-AP1roG. The performance of the proposed orbital optimization techniques is illustrated for a number of well-known multireference problems: the insertion of Be into H2, the automerization process of cyclobutadiene, the stability of the monocyclic form of pyridyne, and the aromatic stability of benzene.

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ct500759q

Efficient description of strongly correlated electrons with mean-field cost

K. Boguslawski, P. Tecmer, P.W. Ayers, P. Bultinck, S. De Baerdemacker, D. Van Neck
Physical Review B
89 (20), 201106
2014
A1

Abstract 

We present an efficient approach to the electron correlation problem that is well suited for strongly interacting many-body systems, but requires only mean-field-like computational cost. The performance of our approach is illustrated for one-dimensional Hubbard rings with different numbers of sites, and for the nonrelativistic quantum-chemical Hamiltonian exploring the symmetric dissociation of the H-50 hydrogen chain.

Open Access version available at UGent repository

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.201106

Projected seniority-two orbital optimization of the antisymmetric product of one-reference orbital geminal

K. Boguslawski, P. Tecmer, P.A. Limacher, P.A. Johnson, P.W. Ayers, P. Bultinck, S. De Baerdemacker, D. Van Neck
Journal of Chemical Physics
140 (21), 214114
2014
A1

Abstract 

We present a new, non-variational orbital-optimization scheme for the antisymmetric product of one-reference orbital geminal wave function. Our approach is motivated by the observation that an orbital-optimized seniority-zero configuration interaction (CI) expansion yields similar results to an orbital-optimized seniority-zero-plus-two CI expansion [L. Bytautas, T. M. Henderson, C. A. Jimenez-Hoyos, J. K. Ellis, and G. E. Scuseria, J. Chem. Phys. 135, 044119 (2011)]. A numerical analysis is performed for the C-2 and LiF molecules, for the CH2 singlet diradical as well as for the symmetric stretching of hypothetical (linear) hydrogen chains. For these test cases, the proposed orbital-optimization protocol yields similar results to its variational orbital optimization counterpart, but prevents symmetry-breaking of molecular orbitals in most cases. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4880820

Aliovalent doping of CeO2: DFT study of oxidation state and vacancy effects

D.E.P. Vanpoucke, P. Bultinck, S. Cottenier, V. Van Speybroeck, I. Van Driessche
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
2 (3), 13723-13737
2014
A1

Abstract 

The modification of CeO2 properties by means of aliovalent doping is investigated within the ab initio density functional theory framework. Lattice parameters, dopant atomic radii, bulk moduli and thermal expansion coefficients of fluorite type Ce1-xMxO2-y (with M = Mg, V, Co, Cu, Zn, Nb, Ba, La, Sm, Gd, Yb, and Bi) are presented for 0.00 < x < 0.25. The relative stability of the doped systems is discussed, and the influence of oxygen vacancies is investigated. It is shown that oxygen vacancies tend to increase the lattice parameter, and strongly decrease the bulk modulus. Defect formation energies are correlated with calculated crystal radii and covalent radii of the dopants, and are shown to present no simple trend. The previously observed inverse relationship between the thermal expansion coefficient and the bulk modulus in group IV doped CeO2 [J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 2014, 97(1), 258] is shown to persist independent of the inclusion of charge compensating vacancies.

Open Access version available at UGent repository

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4ta02449d

The influence of orbital rotation on the energy of closed-shell wavefunctions

P.A. Limacher, T.D. Kim, P.W. Ayers, P.A. Johnson, S. De Baerdemacker, D. Van Neck, P. Bultinck
Molecular Physics
112 (5-6), 853-862
2014
A1

Abstract 

The orbital dependence of closed-shell wavefunction energies is investigated by performing doubly-occupied configuration interaction (DOCI) calculations, representing the most general class of these wavefunctions. Different local minima are examined for planar hydrogen clusters containing two, four, and six electrons applying (spin) symmetry-broken restricted, unrestricted, and generalised orbitals with real and complex coefficients. Contrary to Hartree-Fock (HF), restricted DOCI is found to properly break bonds and thus unrestricted orbitals, while providing a quantitative improvement of the energy, are not needed to enforce a qualitatively correct bond dissociation. For the beryllium atom and the BH diatomic, the lowest possible HF energy requests symmetry-broken generalised orbitals, whereas accurate results for DOCI can be obtained within a restricted formalism. Complex orbital coefficients are shown to increase the accuracy of HF and DOCI results in certain cases. The computationally inexpensive AP1roG geminal wavefunction is proven to agree very well with all DOCI results of this study.

Open Access version available at UGent repository

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00268976.2013.874600

Simple and inexpensive perturbative correction schemes for antisymmetric products of nonorthogonal geminals

P.A. Limacher, P.W. Ayers, P.A. Johnson, S. De Baerdemacker, D. Van Neck, P. Bultinck
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP)
16 (11), 5061-5065
2014
A1

Abstract 

A new multireference perturbation approach has been developed for the recently proposed AP1roG scheme, a computationally facile parametrization of an antisymmetric product of nonorthogonal geminals. This perturbation theory of second-order closely follows the biorthogonal treatment from multiconfiguration perturbation theory as introduced by Surjan et al., but makes use of the additional feature of AP1roG that the expansion coefficients within the space of closed-shell determinants are essentially correct already, which further increases the predictive power of the method. Building upon the ability of AP1roG to model static correlation, the perturbation correction accounts for dynamical electron correlation, leading to absolute energies close to full configuration interaction results. Potential surfaces for multiple bond dissociation in H2O and N-2 are predicted with high accuracy up to bond breaking. The computational cost of the method is the same as that of conventional single-reference MP2.

Open Access version available at UGent repository

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c3cp53301h

Tetravalent doping of CeO2: The impact of valence electron character on group IV dopant influence

D.E.P. Vanpoucke, S. Cottenier, V. Van Speybroeck, I. Van Driessche, P. Bultinck
Journal of the American Ceramic Society
97 (1), 258-266
2014
A1

Abstract 

Fluorite CeO2 doped with group IV elements is studied within the DFT and DFT+U framework. Concentration dependent formation energies are calculated for Ce1−xZxO2 (Z= C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Ti, Zr, Hf) with 0≤x≤0.25 and a roughly decreasing trend with ionic radius is observed. The influence of the valence and near valence electronic configuration is discussed, indicating the importance of filled d and f shells near the Fermi level for all properties investigated. A clearly different behavior of group IVa and IVb dopants is observed: the former are more suitable for surface modifications, the latter are more suitable for bulk modifications.\\ \indent For the entire set of group IV dopants, there exists an inverse relation between the change, due to doping, of the bulk modulus and the thermal expansion coefficients. Hirshfeld-I atomic charges show that charge transfer effects due to doping are limited to the nearest neighbor oxygen atoms.

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jace.12650

Can The Electronegativity Equalization Method Predict Spectroscopic Properties?

T. Verstraelen, P. Bultinck
Spectrochimica Acta Part A (Mol. & biomol.)
136 A, 76–80
2015
A1

Abstract 

The electronegativity equalization method is classically used as a method allowing the fast generation of atomic charges using a set of calibrated parameters and provided knowledge of the molecular structure. Recently, it has started being used for the calculation of other reactivity descriptors and for the development of polarizable and reactive force fields. For such applications, it is of interest to know whether the method, through the inclusion of the molecular geometry in the Taylor expansion of the energy, would also allow sufficiently accurate predictions of spectroscopic data. In this work, relevant quantities for IR spectroscopy are considered, namely the dipole derivatives and the Cartesian Hessian. Despite careful calibration of parameters for this specific task, it is shown that the current models yield insufficiently accurate results.

DOI 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2013.10.124

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