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arXiv:2605.12781

Explicitly Correlated Gaussian Basis Approach to Periodic Systems

Kalman Varga

quant-phphysics.chem-phSubmitted May 12, 2026• Announced May 14, 2026
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Abstract

Closed-form expressions for all matrix elements required for variational calculation of the electronic structure of periodic solids have been derived using a basis of explicitly correlated Gaussians (ECGs). Periodic basis functions are constructed by summing shifted correlated Gaussians over all composite lattice translations, where a generalized unfolding theorem reduces the resulting double lattice sum to a single sum through a unified computational framework for overlap, kinetic energy, and Coulomb potential operators. The formalism has been validated through application to an infinite one-dimensional hydrogen chain, where the ground-state energy per atom computed in the thermodynamic limit is shown to agree with finite-chain results extrapolated by other many-body methods.

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Closed-form expressions for all matrix elements required for variational calculation of the electronic structure of periodic solids have been derived using a basis of explicitly correlated Gaussians (ECGs). Periodic basis functions are constructed by summing shifted correlated Gaussians over all composite lattice translations, where a generalized unfolding theorem reduces the resulting double lattice sum to a single sum through a unified computational framework for overlap, kinetic energy, and Coulomb potential operators. The formalism has been validated through application to an infinite one-dimensional hydrogen chain, where the ground-state energy per atom computed in the thermodynamic limit is shown to agree with finite-chain results extrapolated by other many-body methods.
Understanding emergent many-body phenomena in correlated materials remains one of the grandest challenges in solid-state quantum chemistry calculations. The individuality of electrons diminishes as correlation increases, which leads to the emergence of new features in the system. Seeking to address such problems accurately requires the aid of non-perturbative many-body techniques as well as the corresponding high-quality basis sets. In periodic systems, a given element may be present in different spatial arrangements displaying vastly different physical and chemical properties, and an elemental basis set independent of the physical properties of materials may lead to significant simulation inaccuracies. In fact, with the rapid progress of quantum chemistry methods in condensed-phase simulations, the need for a library of reliable Gaussian basis sets explicitly designed for periodic calculations has become urgent. In the meantime, the development of parameter-free, systematic and reliable quantum chemistry methods for simultaneously treating weak and strong correlations in periodic systems has never stopped. Their ability to treat realistic solid materials needs to be tested, and the obtained results can serve as benchmarks for empirical parameter-guided solid-state calculations. In this thesis, we present numerical studies of various solid-state systems, emphasizing the design and optimization of Gaussian basis sets and assessing the band structure properties of the periodic solid systems. The work begins by introducing the theoretical framework of the electronic structure theory and presenting the fundamentals of a fully self-consistent GW approximation and the self-energy embedding theory (SEET) in Chapters 2 and 3. It continues with a description of the Gaussian basis set optimization scheme we devised for solid-state quantum chemistry calculations. The scheme we present is designed to avoid a lack of material specificity within a given basis set by simultaneously minimizing the total energy of the system and optimizing the band energies when compared to the reference plane wave calculation while accounting for the overlap matrix condition number. We compare the quality of the Gaussian basis sets generated via our method against the existing basis sets. And the optimization scheme is tested to yield improved results. We finally present a quantitative study of electronic properties of realistic materials with the treatment of Green's function based weakly correlated self-consistent GW approximation and the strongly correlated self-energy embedding theory. In the transition metal oxide BiVO3, we found the inaccurate illustration of orbitals including t_{2g} in transition metal Vanadium by DFT. Our calculation shows a systematic trend of DFT failure in illustrating both insulating and metallic solutions, demonstrating the dangers of using DFT when the experimental data is scarce.
Molecular periodic systems have the challenge of not only representing an infinite, albeit periodically repeating, molecule but also treating the strong electron correlation that emerges in such systems. Many post-Hartree-Fock methods that are efficient in moderately correlated molecules often fail to describe strongly correlated electrons and their properties in periodic systems. Here we develop and apply an electronic structure approach to periodic systems based on the variational calculation of the two-electron reduced density matrix (2-RDM). The variational 2-RDM method calculates a lower bound to the ground-state energy of a molecular periodic system without computation or storage of its many-electron wave function. The 2-RDM is constrained by NNN-representability conditions that are necessary for it to represent at least one NNN-electron density matrix---conditions that allow it to treat strongly correlated systems. Two periodic systems are treated to demonstrate the methodology: (i) a metallic hydrogen chain and (ii) a strongly correlated acene chain. In the hydrogen chains the 2-RDM theory describes the strongly correlated Mott metal-to-insulator transition while in acene chains it describes the emergence of polyradical character with increasing chain length. The methodology is applicable to treating strong electron correlation in more general periodic molecules and materials.
Developing accurate and computationally efficient methods to calculate the electronic structure and total energy of correlated-electron materials has been a very challenging task in condensed matter physics and materials science. Recently, we have developed a correlation matrix renormalization (CMR) method which does not assume any empirical Coulomb interaction UUU parameters and does not have double counting problems in the ground-state total energy calculation. The CMR method has been demonstrated to be accurate in describing both the bonding and bond breaking behaviors of molecules. In this study, we extend the CMR method to the treatment of electron correlations in periodic solid systems. Using a linear hydrogen chain as a benchmark system, we show that the results from the CMR method compare very well with those obtained recently by accurate quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations. We also study the equation of states of three-dimensional crystalline phases of atomic hydrogen. We show that the results from the CMR method agree much better with the available QMC data in comparison with those from density functional theory and Hartree-Fock calculations.
Three different many-body wave-function-based ab initio methods for the calculation of correlated (or quasi-particle) band structures of periodic systems are presented: the local Hamiltonian approach, the incremental self-energy method, and the crystal orbital variant of the algebraic diagrammatic construction. All three methods explicitly exploit the local nature of electron correlation, and by consequently switching to representations in localized Wannier orbitals O(N) scaling could be achieved in all three cases. These methods were applied to single (HF) 2 zigzag chains as found in solid hydrogen fluoride using the same geometries and basis sets. Essentially identical quasi-particle band structures were obtained, corroborating the appropriateness of the different concepts pursued in each of the presented quantum chemical correlation methods for band structures of infinite systems.
A density-functional theory for many-body lattice models is considered in which the single-particle density matrix ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}$ is the basic variable. Eigenvalue equations are derived for solving Levy's constrained search of the interaction energy functional $W[{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}].$ $W[{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}]$ is expressed as the sum of Hartree-Fock energy ${E}_{\mathrm{HF}}[{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}]$ and the correlation energy ${E}_{C}[{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}].$ Exact results are obtained for ${E}_{C}({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12})$ of the Hubbard model on various periodic lattices, where ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}={\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}$ for all nearest neighbors i and j. The functional dependence of ${E}_{C}({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12})$ is analyzed by varying the number of sites Na,{N}_{a},Na​, band filling Ne,{N}_{e},Ne​, and lattice structure. The infinite one-dimensional chain and one-, two-, or three-dimensional finite clusters with periodic boundary conditions are considered. The properties of ${E}_{C}({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12})$ are discussed in the limits of weak $({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}\ensuremath{\simeq}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}^{0})$ and strong $({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}\ensuremath{\simeq}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}^{\ensuremath{\infty}})$ electronic correlations, and in the crossover region $({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}^{\ensuremath{\infty}}<~{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}<~{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}^{0}).$ Using an appropriate scaling we observe that ${\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{C}{(g}_{12}{)=E}_{C}{/E}_{\mathrm{HF}}$ has a pseudo-universal behavior as a function of ${g}_{12}=({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}^{\ensuremath{\infty}})/({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}^{0}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}^{\ensuremath{\infty}}).$ The fact that ${\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{C}{(g}_{12})$ depends weakly on Na,{N}_{a},Na​, Ne,{N}_{e},Ne​, and lattice structure suggests that the correlation energy of extended systems could be obtained quite accurately from finite-cluster calculations. Finally, the behaviors of ${E}_{C}({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12})$ for repulsive (U>0)(U>0)(U>0) and attractive (U<0)(U<0)(U<0) interactions are contrasted.