The accuracy of the many-body perturbation theory
GW formalism to calculate electron-phonon coupling matrix elements has been recently demonstrated in the case of a few important systems. However, the related computational costs are high and thus represent strong limitations to its widespread application. In the present study, we explore two less demanding alternatives for the calculation of electron-phonon coupling matrix elements on the many-body perturbation theory level. Namely, we test the accuracy of the static Coulomb-hole plus screened-exchange (COHSEX) approximation and further of the constant screening approach, where variations of the screened Coulomb potential
W upon small changes of the atomic positions along the vibrational eigenmodes are neglected. We find this latter approximation to be the most reliable, whereas the static COHSEX ansatz leads to substantial errors. Our conclusions are validated in a few paradigmatic cases: diamond, graphene, and the
C60 fullerene. These findings open the way for combining the present many-body perturbation approach with efficient linear-response theories.
Abstract This paper shows that the spin‐shift formalism developed in B. T. Pickup and A. Mukhopadhyay [Int. J. Quantum Chem. 26, 101 (1984)] supports a one‐component diagrammatics which has a systematics akin to that in the spin‐orbital many‐body theory. The diagrams are neither Goldstone nor Yutsis type, and characterize the chain U(2R) ⊃ U(R)⊗SU(2) on which the spin‐shift formalism is based. Accordingly, while the lines in such diagrams are labeled by the orbital indices, the diagram structure adequately reflects the irreducible representation of the group U(R). In this sense the paper presents a unitary group approach to the natural generalization of the usual many‐body theory for the spin‐adapted cases. A set of very simple rules is derived; their similarity with the corresponding rules in the ordinary many‐body theory and practical utility are discussed in connection with (a) matrix elements over many‐electron spin states and (b) closed‐ and open‐shell many‐body perturbation theory. A possibility of integral‐driven many‐body perturbation theory for open‐shells is indicated. Connections of this formalism with others are also discussed.