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arXiv:1809.07363

Exact Schrodinger wave-function solutions of the fully-correlated few-electron gas and the uniform electron gas

J. Jerke, Eric R. Bittner, Bill Poirier

Published Sep 19, 2018• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present numerically exact solutions to the full-dimensional Schrodinger Equation for the few-electron gas (few-EG) model of electronic structure theory. Our core methodology uses a Sum-of-Products (SOP) representation of singular potentials to make the fully correlated multi-particle quantum mechanical problem computationally tractable. With full access to periodic wave-functions, we analyze the exchange/correlation, spin symmetry, and thermodynamic ($T = 0$K) phases for few-EG systems with up to four explicit electrons per unit cell. We also present pure-spin exchange/correlation functionals for the same few-EG solutions. Finally, we consider the family of few-EG calculations in juxtaposition with the closely related uniform electron gas (UEG) system, for which previous calculations have been performed using density functional theory and quantum Monte Carlo methods. The exact few-EG solutions all display a similar oscillatory behavior at lower densities, which is not predicted by previous UEG simulations.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1809.07363

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We present numerically exact solutions to the full-dimensional Schrodinger Equation for the few-electron gas (few-EG) model of electronic structure theory. Our core methodology uses a Sum-of-Products (SOP) representation of singular potentials to make the fully correlated multi-particle quantum mechanical problem computationally tractable. With full access to periodic wave-functions, we analyze the exchange/correlation, spin symmetry, and thermodynamic (T=0T = 0T=0K) phases for few-EG systems with up to four explicit electrons per unit cell. We also present pure-spin exchange/correlation functionals for the same few-EG solutions. Finally, we consider the family of few-EG calculations in juxtaposition with the closely related uniform electron gas (UEG) system, for which previous calculations have been performed using density functional theory and quantum Monte Carlo methods. The exact few-EG solutions all display a similar oscillatory behavior at lower densities, which is not predicted by previous UEG simulations.
Variational two-electron reduced-density-matrix (2RDM) theory is applied to computing energy spectra and properties of few-electron quantum dots. The model system is a two-dimensional electron gas with a central confinement potential. For each orbital angular momentum JJJ, the energy and 2RDM are computed by the variational 2RDM method in which the energy is minimized as a functional of the 2RDM. In the minimization, which is performed by semidefinite programming, the 2RDM is constrained to represent a NNN-electron wave function with angular momentum JJJ by NNN- and JJJ-representability conditions [D. A. Mazziotti, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 213001 (2004)]. Advantages of the variational 2RDM method include (i) lower bounds on the energies for all JJJ values, (ii) calculation of approximate 2RDMs in polynomial time without many-electron wave functions, (iii) exploitation of angular symmetry in the sparse block-diagonal structure of the 2RDM, (iv) accurate description of multireference correlation (entanglement) effects, and (v) direct calculation of one- and two-electron properties from the 2RDM. With the 2RDM we directly compute pair-correlation functions, radial charge densities, and average radial electron displacements in the quantum dot. Energies and properties are compared to those from solving the NNN-electron Schr\"odinger equation by large-scale, exact diagonalization. It is found that the accuracy of the variational 2RDM approach is sensitive to the total orbital angular momentum and the symmetry of the final wave function. For quantum dots of high symmetry, the variational algorithm isolates a highly accurate solution that recovers the correlation energy within a few percent.
The properties of the macroscopic world around us, and of which we are a part, are largely determined by the low energy, collective behaviour of many interacting particles, including the nuclei and, especially, the electrons present. Although the fundamental laws governing the behaviour of these many-body systems are believed to be known in principle, the practical solution of the equations of quantum mechanics remains a challenging area of research. This thesis is concerned with the application of quantum Monte Carlo methods to two model systems: the spin-polarised homogeneous electron gas, and a hole-doped electron gas. Electronic structure theory is briefly reviewed before discussing in more detail the quantum Monte Carlo methods used in this thesis. A study of the three-dimensional spin-polarised homogeneous electron gas (HEG) is then reported, where the relatively new technique of twist averaging is investigated in detail and accurate energies and pair correlation functions are obtained over densities rs=0.5–20r_s = 0.5 – 20rs​=0.5–20 a.u. and the full range of spin-polarisation, allowing comparison with the Perdew-Zunger interpolation scheme used in local spin density approximation exchange-correlation functionals. Following this, an impurity is added to the electron gas in the form of a positively charged hole, and the interaction is studied. Relaxation energies, pair correlation functions and momentum densities are reported. Trion formation is observed over a range of carrier densities and electron-hole mass ratios in agreement with experiment. Isolated trions are also studied, where the diffusion Monte Carlo method is exact. Methodological innovations developed while carrying out this work are discussed, including a variance reduction technique for twist-averaged calculations and a new trial wave function for impurity-in-HEG calculations.
Many-electron theory is treated here with much attention focused on the synthesis of the density functional and density matrix theory. This synthesis shows that the exchange–correlation potential, normally obtained as the functional derivative with respect to the electron density of an assumed approximate exchange–correlation energy, can be written exactly in terms of the “near-diagonal” behavior of the fully interacting first-order density matrix and the diagonal of the second-order density matrix, thereby bypassing the functional derivative. Also involved, since the exchange–correlation potential is an “artifact” of reducing the many-electron Schrödinger equation to one-body Slater–Kohn–Sham equations, are the one-body orbitals derived from these latter equations, not just the density thereby obtained. This situation has then motivated a discussion of what constraints are placed on the low-order density matrices of atoms and molecules, described by an assumed spin-independent Hamiltonian, by the requirement that these matrices are constructed from an N-electron wave function which is an eigenfunction of the spin operators S2 and Sz. Some briefer discussion is added on the optimally convergent determinantal expansion of such an N-electron wave function, the relation between Brueckner and Löwdin natural orbitals being commented on as a by-product. In this latter context, it is noted that the exchange-only potential of density functional theory can be represented as a sum of two line integrals, each of which is path-dependent, the sum being, of course, path-independent. But in addition to knowledge of Slater–Kohn–Sham orbitals appearing as in the Harbola–Sahni exchange-only potential (which is one of the path-dependent terms), there is a kinetic correction. This involves Löwdin natural orbitals and their occupation numbers, but only now in the weak coupling limit of the electron–electron interaction, as emphasized in the kinetic “correction” to the Harbola–Sahni formula exhibited by Levy and the writer. Some directions for further work are briefly set out. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 74: 163–176, 1999
The two-dimensional (2D) homogeneous electron gas (HEG) is a fundamental model in quantum many-body physics. It is important to theoretical and computational studies, where exchange-correlation energies computed in it serve as the foundation for density-functional calculations. It is also of direct relevance to a variety of experimental settings, especially with the rapid recent growth in 2D materials and moir\'e systems. In these experiments, metallic gates are often present, which screen the Coulomb interaction between electrons. The effect of the screening can qualitatively change the behavior of the 2D HEG, and requires accurate many-body computations to capture. In this paper, we perform state-of-the-art diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations in the 2D HEG subjected to symmetric dual-gate screening. We systematically compute the correlation energy across a range of densities and gate separations for both spin unpolarized and fully polarized systems. A global fit is obtained for the correlation energy, using these data and imposing various limiting behaviors obtained from perturbation analysis. The functional will allow density-functional calculations to be performed for a variety of realistic experimental setups, which can accurately account for the presence of gates. We also investigate how the gate screening affects the bulk modulus, pair correlation function, and the structure factor of the 2D HEG, which can potentially be probed in experiments.
Based on its known exact properties and a new set of extensive fixed-node reptation quantum Monte Carlo simulations (both with and without backflow correlations, which in this case turn out to yield negligible improvements), we propose an analytical representation of (i) the spin-summed pair-distribution function and (ii) the spin-resolved potential energy of the ideal two-dimensional interacting electron gas for a wide range of electron densities and spin polarization, plus (iii) the spin-resolved pair-distribution function of the unpolarized gas. These formulas provide an accurate reference for quantities previously not available in analytic form, and may be relevant to semiconductor heterostructures and quantum dots both directly, in terms of phase diagram and spin susceptibility, and indirectly, as key ingredients for the construction of new two-dimensional spin density functionals, beyond the local approximation.