Basis set incompleteness errors in fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo calculations on non-covalent interactions

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Hauptverfasser: Nakano, Kousuke, Shi, Benjamin X., Alfè, Dario, Zen, Andrea
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Nakano, Kousuke
Shi, Benjamin X.
Alfè, Dario
Zen, Andrea
author_facet Nakano, Kousuke
Shi, Benjamin X.
Alfè, Dario
Zen, Andrea
contents Basis set incompleteness error (BSIE) is a common source of error in quantum chemistry (QC) calculations, but it has not been comprehensively studied in fixed-node Diffusion Monte Carlo (FN-DMC) calculations. FN-DMC, being a projection method, is often considered minimally affected by basis set biases. Here, we show that this assumption is not always valid. While the relative error introduced by a small basis set in the total FN-DMC energy is minor, it can become significant in binding energy ($E_{\rm b}$) evaluations of weakly interacting systems. We systematically investigated BSIEs in FN-DMC-based binding energy ($E_{\rm b}$) evaluations using the A24 dataset, a well-known benchmark set of 24 non-covalently bound dimers. Contrary to common expectations, we found that BSIEs in FN-DMC evaluations of $E_{\rm b}$ are indeed significant when small localized basis sets, such as cc-pVDZ, are employed. We observed that BSIEs are larger in dimers with hydrogen-bonding interactions and smaller in dispersion-dominated interactions. We also found that augmenting the basis sets with diffuse orbitals, using counterpoise (CP) correction, or both, effectively mitigates BSIEs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_00368
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Basis set incompleteness errors in fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo calculations on non-covalent interactions
Nakano, Kousuke
Shi, Benjamin X.
Alfè, Dario
Zen, Andrea
Chemical Physics
Computational Physics
Basis set incompleteness error (BSIE) is a common source of error in quantum chemistry (QC) calculations, but it has not been comprehensively studied in fixed-node Diffusion Monte Carlo (FN-DMC) calculations. FN-DMC, being a projection method, is often considered minimally affected by basis set biases. Here, we show that this assumption is not always valid. While the relative error introduced by a small basis set in the total FN-DMC energy is minor, it can become significant in binding energy ($E_{\rm b}$) evaluations of weakly interacting systems. We systematically investigated BSIEs in FN-DMC-based binding energy ($E_{\rm b}$) evaluations using the A24 dataset, a well-known benchmark set of 24 non-covalently bound dimers. Contrary to common expectations, we found that BSIEs in FN-DMC evaluations of $E_{\rm b}$ are indeed significant when small localized basis sets, such as cc-pVDZ, are employed. We observed that BSIEs are larger in dimers with hydrogen-bonding interactions and smaller in dispersion-dominated interactions. We also found that augmenting the basis sets with diffuse orbitals, using counterpoise (CP) correction, or both, effectively mitigates BSIEs.
title Basis set incompleteness errors in fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo calculations on non-covalent interactions
topic Chemical Physics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.00368