Multireference Coupled-Cluster Methods: Recent Developments

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of various multi-reference (MR) coupled-cluster (CC) approaches, particularly those relating to our own research. Although MR CC methods have been around for almost three decades and much work has been expended on their development and implementation, no general purpose codes are presently available. In view of the complexity, inherent difficulties, and computational demands of both genuine valence and state universal (VU and SU) MR CC methods, attention has been directed towards the state selective or state specific (SS) approaches that focus on one state at a time. These methods are based on either the genuine MR CC formalism or on a single-reference (SR) CC Ansatz, in which higher-than-pair clusters are accounted for by relying on basic ideas of general MR approaches. This is achieved either internally by relying on CC or MBPT formalism or by exploiting some external source providing approximate values of these clusters and accomplished by either correcting equations yielding the cluster amplitudes or directly by evaluating the corrections to the CCSD energy. Nowadays there exists a whole plethora of such various approaches for handling of quasi-degenerate states with a various degree of MR character and our goal is to outline their basic features and comment on their pro’s and con’s, their usefulness and weaknesses, as well as point out their mutual relationship.