We present a second-order formulation of multireference algebraic diagrammatic construction theory [ Sokolov, A. Yu. J. Chem. Phys. 2018, 149, 204113] for simulating photoelectron spectra of strongly correlated systems (MR-ADC(2)). The MR-ADC(2) method uses second-order multireference perturbation theory (MRPT2) to efficiently obtain ionization energies and intensities for many photoelectron transitions in a single computation. In contrast to conventional MRPT2 methods, MR-ADC(2) provides information about ionization of electrons in all orbitals (i.e., core and active) and allows computation of transition intensities in a straightforward and efficient way. Although equations of MR-ADC(2) depend on four-particle reduced density matrices, we demonstrate that computation of these large matrices can be completely avoided without introducing any approximations. The resulting MR-ADC(2) implementation has a lower computational scaling compared to conventional MRPT2 methods. We present results of MR-ADC(2) for photoelectron spectra of small molecules, a carbon dimer, and equally spaced hydrogen chains (H 10 and H 30 ) and outline directions for future developments.
We present a second-order formulation of multireference algebraic diagrammatic construction theory [ Sokolov, A. Yu. J. Chem. Phys. 2018, 149, 204113] for simulating photoelectron spectra of strongly correlated systems (MR-ADC(2)). The MR-ADC(2) method uses second-order multireference perturbation theory (MRPT2) to efficiently obtain ionization energies and intensities for many photoelectron transitions in a single computation. In contrast to conventional MRPT2 methods, MR-ADC(2) provides information about ionization of electrons in all orbitals (i.e., core and active) and allows computation of transition intensities in a straightforward and efficient way. Although equations of MR-ADC(2) depend on four-particle reduced density matrices, we demonstrate that computation of these large matrices can be completely avoided without introducing any approximations. The resulting MR-ADC(2) implementation has a lower computational scaling compared to conventional MRPT2 methods. We present results of MR-ADC(2) for photoelectron spectra of small molecules, a carbon dimer, and equally spaced hydrogen chains (H 10 and H 30 ) and outline directions for future developments.
We propose a novel approach to electron correlation for multireference systems. It is based on particle-hole (ph) and particle-particle (pp) theories in the second-order, developed in the random phase approximation (RPA) framework for multireference wave functions. We show a formal correspondence (duality), between contributions to the correlation energy in the ph and pp pictures. It allows us to describe correlation energy by rigorously combining pp and ph terms, avoiding correlation double counting. The multireference ph, pp, and the combined correlation methods are applied to ground and excited states of systems in the intermediate and strong correlation regimes and compared with the multireference second-order perturbation method (MRPT2). It is shown that the pp approximation fails to describe dissociation of multiple bonds. The ph-pp combined method is overall superior to both ph and pp alone. It parallels good accuracy of the second-order perturbation theory for ground states and singlet excitation energies. For the singlet-triplet gaps of biradicals its accuracy is significantly better. This is impressive, taking into account that it relies only on one- and two-body density matrices, while MRPT2 methods typically require density matrices up to the four-body.
Many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) based on Green’s functions and Feynman diagrams provides a fundamental theoretical framework for various ab initio computational approaches in molecular and materials science, including the random phase approximation (RPA) and GW approximation. Unfortunately, this perturbation expansion often fails in systems with strong multireference characters. Extending diagrammatic MBPT to the multireference case is highly nontrivial and remains largely unexplored, primarily due to the breakdown of Wick’s theorem. In this work, we develop a diagrammatic multireference generalization of MBPT for computing correlation energies of strongly correlated systems, by using the cumulant expansion of many-body Green’s functions in place of Wick’s theorem. This theoretical framework bridges the gap between MBPT in condensed matter physics and multireference perturbation theories (MRPT) in quantum chemistry, which had been almost exclusively formulated within time-independent wave function frameworks prior to this work. Our formulation enables the explicit incorporation of strong correlation effects from the outset as in MRPT, while treating residual weak interactions through a generalized diagrammatic perturbation expansion as in MBPT. As a concrete demonstration, we formulate a multireference (MR) extension of the standard single-reference (SR) RPA by systematically resumming generalized ring diagrams, which naturally leads to a unified set of equations applicable to both SR and MR cases. Benchmark calculations on prototypical molecular systems reveal that MR-RPA successfully resolves the well-known failure of SR-RPA in strongly correlated systems. This theoretical advancement paves the way for advancing ab initio computational methods through diagrammatic resummation techniques in future.
We present two efficient and intruder-free methods for treating dynamic correlation on top of general multiconfiguration reference wave functions — including such as obtained by the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) with large active spaces. The new methods are the second order variant of the recently proposed multireference linearized coupled cluster method (MRLCC) [Sharma, S.; Alavi, A. J. Chem. Phys. 2015, 143, 102815] and of N-electron valence perturbation theory (NEVPT2), with expected accuracies similar to MRCI+Q and (at least) CASPT2, respectively. Great efficiency gains are realized by representing the first order wave function with a combination of internal contraction (IC) and matrix product state perturbation theory (MPSPT). With this combination, only third order reduced density matrices (RDMs) are required. Thus, we obviate the need for calculating (or estimating) RDMs of fourth or higher order; these had so far posed a severe bottleneck for dynamic correlation treatments involving the large active spaces accessible to DMRG. Using several benchmark systems, including first and second row containing small molecules, Cr 2, pentacene, and oxo-Mn(Salen), we show that active spaces containing at least 30 orbitals can be treated using this method. On a single node, MRLCC2 and NEVPT2 calculations can be performed with over 550 and 1100 virtual orbitals, respectively. We also critically examine the errors incurred due to the three sources of errors introduced in the present implementation – calculating second order instead of third order energy corrections, use of internal contraction, and approximations made in the reference wave function due to DMRG.
In multi-reference (MR) methods, addressing systems with large active spaces remains a challenge in the field. In Papers I and II of this series, we demonstrated that full rank N-electron valence state second-order perturbation theory (FR-NEVPT2) is a robust MR perturbation theory capable of computing strongly correlated systems with approximate density matrices. However, the previous FR-NEVPT2 implementation requires the computation and storage of fifth-order reduced density matrices (RDMs), limiting the usage of FR-NEVPT2 for systems with large active spaces. In the present work, as Paper III of the series, we report a new FR-NEVPT2 algorithm to handle systems with large active spaces. In the new algorithm, an approximate complete active space (CAS) self-consistent field (SCF) method, iterative configuration expansion (ICE) SCF, is employed to compute the reference wave functions for FR-NEVPT2. Then, the necessary Koopmans matrices of FR-NEVPT2 involving various RDMs are constructed using the intermediates designed by Kollmar et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 155, 234104 (2021)] to avoid storage bottlenecks. The performance of the new FR-NEVPT2 algorithm for systems with large active spaces is evaluated. Our results show that even with aggressive truncation parameters to truncate the ICE-SCF reference wave function, FR-NEVPT2 effectively recovers the missing static correlations of ICE-SCF. Several interesting systems with active spaces up to CAS(34,34) are studied using FR-NEVPT2 with ICE-SCF reference.
A diagrammatic multi-reference generalization of many-body perturbation theory was recently introduced [Wang et al., J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 16, 3047 (2025)]. This framework allows us to extend single-reference (SR) Green's function methods defined at the diagrammatic level naturally to the multi-reference case, as previously exemplified by the formulation of multi-reference direct random phase approximation (MR-dRPA) and the multi-reference second-order screened exchange approximation. In this work, we further elaborate on this framework and use it to develop MR generalizations of two other RPA variants, namely, particle-hole (ph) RPA with exchange (MR-RPAx) and particle-particle RPA (MR-ppRPA). We define these two MR generalizations by infinite-order resummations of the generalized "ring" and "ladder" diagrams with antisymmetrized interaction vertices, respectively, which incorporate the contributions from the active-space connected two-body Green's functions. As for MR-dRPA, we derive unified sets of equations that hold at both SR and MR levels for RPAx and ppRPA, respectively. We perform numerical studies of prototypical systems using the three MR-RPA methods and carry out a perturbative analysis to gain a deeper understanding of their behaviors. We find that error cancellation between the second and third orders is a key factor for both SR-RPA and MR-RPA. In addition, we observe that MR-phRPA (MR-dRPA and MR-RPAx) and MR-ppRPA tend to overestimate and underestimate correlation energies, respectively, suggesting that better accuracy can be achieved by further combining these two channels in the future.