A density-division embedding potential inversion technique

Abstract

A new method is proposed to partition the density of a system in two portions. The density on each subsystem is the solution of a Fock equation modified by the addition of an embedding potential. This embedding potential is obtained iteratively by minimizing the difference between the electronic densities of the total system and the sum of the subsystems. Thus, the electronic density partition and the embedding potential are obtained at the same time within the procedure, guarantying the v-representability of the densities partitioned. This fact is a considerable improvement of a recently proposed embedding potential inversion technique, [O. Roncero, M. P. de Lara-Castells, P. Villarreal, F. Flores, J. Ortega, M. Paniagua, and A. Aguado, J. Chem. Phys. 129, 184104 (2008)], in which the embedding potential is obtained once the electronic density is previously partitioned. The method is first applied to a linear H10 chain to illustrate how it works. The orbitals obtained are localized on each subsystem, and can be used to include local electronic correlation with currently available ab initio programs. Finally, the method is applied to include the electronic correlation needed to describe the van der Waals interaction between H10 chains and H2 molecules, of ≈12 meV, giving very accurate results. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.