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The Journal of Chemical Physics

Repartitioning the Hamiltonian in many-body second-order Brillouin–Wigner perturbation theory: Uncovering new size-consistent models

Linus Bjarne Dittmer, Martin Head‐Gordon

Published Feb 4, 2025• 15 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory is well-known as a computationally inexpensive approach to the electron correlation problem that is size-consistent with a size-consistent reference but fails to be regular. On the other hand, the less well-known many-body version of Brillouin-Wigner perturbation theory has the reverse properties: it is regular but fails to be size-consistent when used with the standard MP partitioning. Consequently, its widespread use remains limited. In this work, we analyze the ways in which it is possible to use alternative non-MP partitions of the Hamiltonian to yield variants of BW2 that are size-consistent as well as regular. We show that there is a vast space of such BW2 theories and also show that it is possible to define a repartitioned BW2 theory from the ground state density alone, which regenerates the exact correlation energy. We also provide a general recipe for deriving regular, size-consistent, and size-extensive partitions from physically meaningful components, and we apply the result to small model systems. The scope of these results appears to further set the stage for a revival of BW2 in quantum chemistry.

DOI
10.1063/5.0242211

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Second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory is well-known as a computationally inexpensive approach to the electron correlation problem that is size-consistent with a size-consistent reference but fails to be regular. On the other hand, the less well-known many-body version of Brillouin-Wigner perturbation theory has the reverse properties: it is regular but fails to be size-consistent when used with the standard MP partitioning. Consequently, its widespread use remains limited. In this work, we analyze the ways in which it is possible to use alternative non-MP partitions of the Hamiltonian to yield variants of BW2 that are size-consistent as well as regular. We show that there is a vast space of such BW2 theories and also show that it is possible to define a repartitioned BW2 theory from the ground state density alone, which regenerates the exact correlation energy. We also provide a general recipe for deriving regular, size-consistent, and size-extensive partitions from physically meaningful components, and we apply the result to small model systems. The scope of these results appears to further set the stage for a revival of BW2 in quantum chemistry.
Second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) constitutes the simplest form of many-body wavefunction theory and often provides a good compromise between efficiency and accuracy. There are, however, well-known limitations to this approach. In particular, MP2 is known to fail or diverge for some prototypical condensed matter systems like the homogeneous electron gas (HEG) and to overestimate dispersion-driven interactions in strongly polarizable systems. In this paper, we explore how the issues of MP2 for metallic, polarizable, and strongly correlated periodic systems can be ameliorated through regularization. To this end, two regularized second-order methods (including a new, size-extensive Brillouin-Wigner approach) are applied to the HEG, the one-dimensional Hubbard model, and the graphene-water interaction. We find that regularization consistently leads to improvements over the MP2 baseline and that different regularizers are appropriate for the various systems.
We present a scalable single-particle framework to treat electronic correlation in molecules and materials motivated by Green's function theory. We derive a size-extensive Brillouin-Wigner perturbation theory from the single-particle Green's function by introducing the Goldstone self-energy. This new ground state correlation energy, referred to as Quasi-Particle MP2 theory (QPMP2), avoids the characteristic divergences present in both second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory and Coupled Cluster Singles and Doubles within the strongly correlated regime. We show that the exact ground state energy and properties of the Hubbard dimer are reproduced by QPMP2 and demonstrate the advantages of the approach for larger Hubbard models where the metal-to-insulator transition is qualitatively reproduced, contrasting with the complete failure of traditional methods. We apply this formalism to characteristic strongly correlated molecular systems and show that QPMP2 provides an efficient, size-consistent regularization of MP2.
Abstract The multireference, state‐specific, second‐order, Brillouin–Wigner perturbation theory is presented as a robust approach to the electron correlation problem for systems demanding the use of a multireference function. A posteriori modifications are made which, in the case of a single reference function, recover the well known formula of second‐order many‐body perturbation theory (MBPT2), i.e. Møller–Plesset (MP2) theory, and in the multireference case can be shown to be equivalent to state‐specific multireference Rayleigh–Schrödinger‐like perturbation theory. It is shown that multireference many‐body Brillouin–Wigner perturbation theory when restricted to second‐order is a true many‐body theory, that is, it is a theory, which has the property of extensivity. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007
In many cases, density-functional theory (DFT) with current standard approximate functionals offers a relatively accurate and computationally cheap description of the short-range dynamic electron correlation effects. However, in general, standard DFT does not treat the dispersion interaction effects adequately which, on the other hand, can be described by many-body perturbation theory (MBPT). It is therefore of interest to develop a hybrid model which combines the best of both the MBPT and DFT approaches. This can be achieved by splitting the two-electron interaction into long-range and short-range parts; the long-range part is then treated by MBPT and the short-range part by DFT. This work deals with the formulation of a general MBPT-DFT model (i.e., valid for any type of zeroth-order Hamiltonian) based on such a range separation. Applying the Rayleigh-Schr\"odinger formalism in this context, one finds that the generalized Bloch equation becomes self-consistent at each order of perturbation. This complication arises because the short-range part of the energy is a functional of the exact electron density, which is expanded in a perturbation series. In order to address this ``self-consistency problem'' and provide computable orbital-based expressions for any order of perturbation, a general one-electron reduced-density-matrix-based formalism is proposed. Two applications of our general formalism are presented: The derivation of a hybrid second-order M\o{}ller-Plesset-DFT model and the formulation of a range-separated optimized effective potential method based on a hybrid G\"orling-Levy-type MBPT-DFT model.
The generalization of coupled cluster (CC) theory is far from being a standard method to account for correlation effects of ubiquitous open-shell systems. This dilemma is largely due to three problems. The first concerns the incorporation of multiple reference “guess” wave functions into nonvariational theories. Next is the size-extensivity issue. Finally, and perhaps most importantly is the notorious intruder state problem. Brillouin–Wigner (BW) and generalized Brillouin–Wigner (gBW) perturbation theories are used to aid in the development of new Fock-space coupled cluster theories in an attempt to alleviate some of these problems. Bloch equations are derived which can be used to formulate BWCC and gBWCC theories of arbitrary dimension in all sectors of Fock space. Since this is our first study of Brillouin–Wigner coupled cluster theories in Fock space we have chosen to keep our approach very simple. Explicit effective Hamiltonian and amplitude equations for up to two-body S-amplitudes in the (0,1) and (1,0) sectors are given for the single reference case. Aspects concerning the connectivity of the amplitude equations are addressed.