Questions tagged [density-functional-theory]
For questions about simulations using Density Functional Theory.
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What are some recent developments in density functional theory?
In the book Materials Modelling Using Density Functional Theory: Properties and Predictions by Feliciano Giustino, a timeline of milestones in DFT was given for achievements between 1964 and 1996:
$$\...
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5answers
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What are the types of DFT?
Similar to: What are the types of charge analysis?, What are the types of bond orders?, and What are some recent developments in density functional theory?, I would like to ask: What are the different ...
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3answers
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Mathematical expression of SCAN (Strongly Constrained and Appropriately Normed) constraints in DFT
(This question is originally posted on physics stackexchange, but someone suggested me to post on this site, so there you go)
I'm compiling the mathematical expression of SCAN (Strongly Constrained ...
26
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3answers
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How to "get my feet wet" in Density Functional Theory by simulating a water molecule using Python
I just saw I am a beginner in Density Functional Theory. What are some resources that could help me to learn the basics? and it reminded me that few years ago I'd asked How can I calculate the charge ...
18
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1answer
704 views
Are there differences in accuracy and reliability between the frozen phonon method and Density Functional Perturbation Theory?
When proposing or predicting new materials, whether in the bulk or in two dimensions, it is important to discuss the stability of the system. This is usually done through thermodynamics and(or) ...
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2answers
315 views
What are the types of pseudopotentials?
I would like to know what are the different types of pseudopotentials, the pro and cons, and what properties can/cannot be calculated with them?
22
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2answers
267 views
What are the different ways of calculating dispersion constants?
There are many different dispersion corrections out there. The most famous is D3 [1] (and the new D4 [2]), but there's probably other approaches too. The dispersion energy can be written as:
$$
E_{\...
44
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4answers
749 views
What is the closest thing we have to "the" universal density functional?
It is understood that finding "the" universal functional is an NP-complete problem. However, progressively better functionals have been constructed decade after decade and fitted to more and more ...
33
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1answer
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Was Walter Kohn wrong about this?
In Kohn's Nobel Lecture, he claimed that:
"In general the many-electron wave function $\Psi(\mathbf{r}_1,\ldots,\mathbf{r}_N)$ for a system of $N$ electrons is not a legitimate scientific concept,...
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1answer
458 views
What correlation effects are included in DFT?
In wavefunction methods the accuracy of the description of a system of electrons can be improved systematically starting from a reference, usually a Hartree-Fock wavefunction. This difference between ...
21
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4answers
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What are the pitfalls for new users of DFT?
This question is inspired from a post in another SE. Many users these days use density functional theory codes as 'black boxes' and hence its natural to expect that they would have made many mistakes ...
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3answers
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What is the appropriate way of determining a value for the Hubbard-like potential U for LDA+U / GGA+U calculations?
It is known that neither LDA or GGA correctly account for the strong on-site Coulomb interaction of localized electrons[1]. A cost-effective way of correcting this is by using a Hubbard-like term $U$. ...
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What are the positives and negatives of periodic DFT codes that don't use plane-wave basis sets?
Most periodic density functional theory (DFT) codes use plane-wave basis sets in conjunction with three-dimensional periodic boundary conditions. In contrast, for molecular systems of finite size, ...
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2answers
188 views
In DFT, if I complete a convergence test once, then want to study a different system with the same atoms, do I have to do a new convergence test?
Any time you start a new DFT calculation, it is recommended to do a convergence test. The parameters to include in the tests vary depending on the DFT implementation, i.e. plane-waves, Gaussian basis ...
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5answers
913 views
Why do we have so many DFT codes (softwares)? Are they redundant?
Lejaeghere et. al studied reproducibility of DFT codes (softwares) by comparing 15 different codes employing 40 different potentials. The study concluded that most codes agree very well, with ...
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3answers
379 views
How to do periodic DFT calculations using Quantum ESPRESSO?
I have only done quantum mechanical computations using non-periodic wavefunctions. I'd like to try to periodic-wavefunction density functional theory.
Quantum ESPRESSO seems like a good package ...
17
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1answer
327 views
Can DFT be 'exact' in the limit of the uniform electron gas?
I was wondering if DFT (or specifically, LDA ?) can be exact in the limit of the homogeneous electron gas? In that case, shouldn't the self-interaction error perfectly cancel out? I realise that such ...
14
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1answer
595 views
Difference between Van der Waals (DFT-D and DFT-D3) corrections in ab-initio calculations
In Kohn-Sham DFT calculations, Van der Waals corrections are often implemented in the structure optimization calculations because the typical functionals such as LDA and GGA are found to not treat ...
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2answers
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What are the scientific justifications of the binding energy equation?
There are many problems where we want to calculate the binding energy between two systems.
Normally, we have a system A, adsorbent (a surface, a nanotube, a protein, etc.), that interact with a system ...
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4answers
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How to write my own density functional theory (DFT) code in Python?
I am a DFT user and at some point in the future, I would like to write my own DFT code in Python to help gain a deeper understanding of DFT. As mentioned in a previous answer people have written their ...
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3answers
565 views
Are there any online course/video lectures available on Density functional theory?
Please mention good online video lectures on theoretical foundations and practical implementation of DFT.
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What does B3LYP do well? What does it do badly?
I have seen a general criticism of B3LYP in computational chemistry (especially with the 6-31G* basis set). I would like to know some of the more/less obvious problems that occur when using it and ...
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When and Why does Density Functional Theory (DFT) fail?
Every method has its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, a strength of DFT is that is has HF like speeds, but can also account for electron-correlation and this is a pretty big feature since ...
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3answers
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k-points and ENCUT convergence tests before or after relaxation?
Let's say I want to relax a structure using VASP. K-points and ENCUT convergence tests must be conducted before or after relaxation? and which tags should be ...
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3answers
333 views
How to calculate homolytic bond dissociation energies?
An experimental colleague asked me how hard it would be to calculate homolytic bond-dissociation energies for different phosphonates which are involved in a Hydrophosphination. The compounds include ...
14
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1answer
237 views
Great computer graphics for matter modelling
I am trying to write some code to automatically generate a judicious set of graphics from DFT/fn-DMC calculations so that users can sanity check their results quickly. My literature review has found ...
12
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2answers
875 views
Total spin and/or multiplicity for transition metal ions?
I am trying to input various charge states of various transition metal ion species into DFT calculations. The program requires an input of multiplicity = 2*(total spin) + 1.
I have an undergraduate-...
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1answer
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What is the physical meaning of occupations='smearing' in Quantum ESPRESSO?
I want to understand, what is the intuition behind using the occupations='smearing' or 'tetrahedra' in Quantum ESPRESSO input file? I mean how we can interpret what is going to happen inside of ...
25
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3answers
426 views
What is the largest material that has been studied using density functional theory?
Quantum-chemical calculations are quite expensive with a cost that scales greatly with the number of atoms in the system. What is the largest material that has been modeled using density functional ...
23
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1answer
412 views
What are good ways to reduce computing time when working with large systems in VASP?
I know that parallelization is an important factor, however, I wanted to know if there are any other methods of reducing computing time when dealing with large systems without sacrificing accuracy.
...
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3answers
442 views
What are the core numerical routines used in density functional theory?
It looks to me to that many of the things one would do within the framework of density functional theory (DFT) ultimately boil down to solving a generalized eigenvalue problem $Av = \lambda Bv$ where $...
12
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1answer
171 views
What is the best program to manipulate numerical DFT wavefunctions to calculate custom matrix elements?
For pedagogical reasons, I am looking for ways to calculate quantum-mechanical quantities such as $\langle m | \dot{m}\rangle, \langle m | \dot{n}\rangle, \langle m | \ddot{n}\rangle$ using ...
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234 views
How trustworthy is the Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson potential and how does it perform across basis sets?
When modeling solid-state materials and particularly semiconductors, one must go beyond LDA and GGA. One alternative is to use hybrid functionals or the $GW$ method. However, this can be very ...
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1answer
562 views
Are there problems with the Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson potential (mBJ, a.k.a. TB09) in Quantum ESPRESSO?
I have used the modified Becke-Johnson (mBJ) exchange potential before, as it was developed and implemented in Wien2K by Fabien Tran and Peter Blaha (1). In 2013, Éric Germaneau et al. implemented mBJ ...
12
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2answers
343 views
Which property should be used for a DFT convergence test? Is energy always the best, or should convergence be tested for a different property?
As I pointed out in the other question Convergence test I: same atoms and different structures, each time you start a DFT calculation you need to do a convergence test.
Normally, we use the system ...
11
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1answer
751 views
Monkhorst-Pack, Gamma-centred and gamma only
Sorry if this question is too simple for this community but I still couldn't find an answer to it.
Do gamma-centred and gamma only grid mean the same thing?
If not, what's the difference?
How do they ...
11
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1answer
656 views
How to model an anti-ferromagnetic crystal in quantum ESPRESSO properly?
I'm fairly new to DFT. I would like to plot the DOS and band structure of Cobalt Oxide (CoO). But since CoO is anti ferro magnetic, how would I approach the problem? would I create an input file ...
10
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1answer
364 views
Spin–orbit interaction with DFT
I'm new to DFT.
Does the DFT take into account the spin-orbit interaction?
On the one hand, this is a relativistic effect, perhaps DFT does not take it into account.
However, on the other hand, I ...
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1answer
55 views
Extended Hybrid Methods
Hybrid DFT methods, where the functional is supplemented with Hartree-Fock exchange, have become increasingly popular due to their low cost and decent accuracy. Double hybrids, which mix in an MP2 ...
9
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1answer
392 views
How is SIESTA and TranSIESTA different from plane wave DFT codes?
This question is complementary to a previous question. I have experience with the plane-wave DFT codes VASP and Quantum ESPRESSO. I would like to try SIESTA for the main purpose of using TranSIESTA ...
9
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1answer
560 views
How to carry out HSE06+SOC band structure calculation using VASP?
I could not find any good source for this type of calculation. I'd be very appreciated if someone who is experienced with that to show it step by step
9
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1answer
292 views
Energy cut-off test meaning in atomic-like basis functions' DFT
I have been using SIESTA code to perform some practicals in my college and I have run energy cut-off tests before calculating properties of semi-conductors or insulator. As far as I am concerned, ...
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1answer
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Does the Schrödinger equation have unique solutions?
I am learning DFT and the Hohenberg Kohn Theorem of Existence. It says that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the external potential and the density.
However the proofs that I have seen ...
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4answers
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Available methods and codes for materials discovery / crystal structure prediction?
There are many open databases and projects that allow you to access computed crystal structures of experimentally known compounds, registered in the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD). These ...
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Tools for high-throughput DFT studies?
High-throughput density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to screen for new materials and conduct fundamental research in materials science and materials innovation. It involves ...
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3answers
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Given that Kohn-Sham DFT is strictly a ground-state method (at 0 K), how is it sufficient to describe materials in real-life applications?
Kohn-Sham DFT appears to be so popular even though it is strictly a ground-state method - all calculations are done at 0 K. How then, is it so popular when describing materials that have real-life ...
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Geometry optimization: what happens in the algorithm?
Geometry optimization using density functional theory (DFT) is done by moving the atoms of a molecule to get the most stable structure with the lowest possible ground state energy. My question is what ...
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4answers
830 views
Difficult cases for converging Kohn-Sham SCF calculations
In a recent article by Woods et. al.[1] a couple of methods for converging ground-state Kohn-Sham DFT calculations are reviewed and compared. In their test suite they give plenty of examples for badly ...
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1answer
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How to evaluate spin exchange parameters of a magnetic material using DFT?
I think we have to calculate total energies using different FM, AFM configurations and solve a set of linear equations. How to arrive at the set of equations for any given structure?
An example from ...
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0answers
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What are the recent developments of TDDFT to simulate the excited properties of materials?
The time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and the many-body perturbation method (GW@BSE) are considered as the two most popular and successful methods to describe the excited-stated ...
