Oscillator Strengths in the Framework of Equation of Motion Multilevel CC3.

We present an efficient implementation of the equation of motion oscillator strengths for the closed-shell multilevel coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples method (MLCC3) in the electronic structure program eT. The orbital space is split into an active part treated with CC3 and an inactive part computed at the coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) level of theory. Asymptotically, the CC3 contribution scales as O(nVnv3no3) floating-point operations, where nV is the total number of virtual orbitals while nv and no are the number of active virtual and occupied orbitals, respectively. The CC3 contribution, thus, only scales linearly with the full system size and can become negligible compared to the cost of CCSD. We demonstrate the capabilities of our implementation by calculating the ultraviolet-visible spectrum of azobenzene and a core excited state of betaine 30 with more than 1000 molecular orbitals.

Describing ground and excited state potential energy surfaces for molecular photoswitches using coupled cluster models.

In this article, we use two extensively studied systems, a retinal model system and azobenzene, to explore the use of coupled cluster models for describing ground and singlet excited state potential energy surfaces of photoswitchable systems. While not being suitable for describing nuclear dynamics of photoisomerization, coupled cluster models have useful attributes, such as the inclusion of dynamical correlation, their black box nature, and the systematic improvement offered by truncation level. Results for the studied systems show that when triple excitations (here through the CC3 model) are included, ground and excited state potential energy surfaces for isomerization paths may reliably be generated, also for states of doubly excited character. For ground state equilibrium cis- and trans-azobenzene, the molecular geometry and basis set is seen to significantly impact the vertical excitation energies for the two lowest excited states. Efficient implementations of coupled cluster models can therefore constitute valuable tools for investigating photoswitchable systems and can be used for preliminary black box studies to gather information before more complicated excited state dynamics approaches are pursued.

Transient resonant Auger-Meitner spectra of photoexcited thymine.

We present the first investigation of excited state dynamics by resonant Auger-Meitner spectroscopy (also known as resonant Auger spectroscopy) using the nucleobase thymine as an example. Thymine is photoexcited in the UV and probed with X-ray photon energies at and below the oxygen K-edge. After initial photoexcitation to a ππ* excited state, thymine is known to undergo internal conversion to an nπ* excited state with a strong resonance at the oxygen K-edge, red-shifted from the ground state π* resonances of thymine (see our previous study Wolf, et al., Nat. Commun., 2017, 8, 29). We resolve and compare the Auger-Meitner electron spectra associated both with the excited state and ground state resonances, and distinguish participator and spectator decay contributions. Furthermore, we observe simultaneously with the decay of the nπ* state signatures the appearance of additional resonant Auger-Meitner contributions at photon energies between the nπ* state and the ground state resonances. We assign these contributions to population transfer from the nπ* state to a ππ* triplet state via intersystem crossing on the picosecond timescale based on simulations of the X-ray absorption spectra in the vibrationally hot triplet state. Moreover, we identify signatures from the initially excited ππ* singlet state which we have not observed in our previous study.

New and Efficient Implementation of CC3.

We present a new and efficient implementation of the closed shell coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples method (CC3) in the electronic structure program eT. Asymptotically, a ground state calculation has an iterative cost of 4nV4nO3 floating point operations (FLOP), where nV and nO are the number of virtual and occupied orbitals, respectively. The Jacobian and transpose Jacobian transformations, required to iteratively solve for excitation energies and transition moments, both require 8nV4nO3 FLOP. We have also implemented equation of motion (EOM) transition moments for CC3. The EOM transition densities require recalculation of triples amplitudes, as nV3nO3 tensors are not stored in memory. This results in a noniterative computational cost of 10nV4nO3 FLOP for the ground state density and 26nV4nO3 FLOP per state for the transition densities. The code is compared to the CC3 implementations in CFOUR, DALTON, and PSI4. We demonstrate the capabilities of our implementation by calculating valence and core excited states of l-proline.

eT 1.0: An open source electronic structure program with emphasis on coupled cluster and multilevel methods.

The eT program is an open source electronic structure package with emphasis on coupled cluster and multilevel methods. It includes efficient spin adapted implementations of ground and excited singlet states, as well as equation of motion oscillator strengths, for CCS, CC2, CCSD, and CC3. Furthermore, eT provides unique capabilities such as multilevel Hartree-Fock and multilevel CC2, real-time propagation for CCS and CCSD, and efficient CC3 oscillator strengths. With a coupled cluster code based on an efficient Cholesky decomposition algorithm for the electronic repulsion integrals, eT has similar advantages as codes using density fitting, but with strict error control. Here, we present the main features of the program and demonstrate its performance through example calculations. Because of its availability, performance, and unique capabilities, we expect eT to become a valuable resource to the electronic structure community.

X-ray and UV Spectra of Glycine within Coupled Cluster Linear Response Theory.

The coupled cluster models CCSD and CC3 are used to investigate the (core) excited states and ionization energies of glycine in the gas phase. Excited states and ionization energies in the UV spectral range are calculated using a standard coupled cluster linear response, while core-level excited states and ionization potentials are calculated using the core-valence separation approximation. The temperature dependence from different conformers is also assessed.

Observation of Ultrafast Intersystem Crossing in Thymine by Extreme Ultraviolet Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

We studied the photoinduced ultrafast relaxation dynamics of the nucleobase thymine using gas-phase time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. By employing extreme ultraviolet pulses from high harmonic generation for photoionization, we substantially extend our spectral observation window with respect to previous studies. This enables us to follow relaxation of the excited state population all the way to low-lying electronic states including the ground state. In thymine, we observe relaxation from the optically bright 1ππ* state of thymine to a dark 1nπ* state within 80 ± 30 fs. The 1nπ* state relaxes further within 3.5 ± 0.3 ps to a low-lying electronic state. By comparison with quantum chemical simulations, we can unambiguously assign its spectroscopic signature to the 3ππ* state. Hence, our study draws a comprehensive picture of the relaxation mechanism of thymine including ultrafast intersystem crossing to the triplet manifold.

A theoretical and experimental benchmark study of core-excited states in nitrogen.

The high resolution near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectrum of nitrogen displays the vibrational structure of the core-excited states. This makes nitrogen well suited for assessing the accuracy of different electronic structure methods for core excitations. We report high resolution experimental measurements performed at the SOLEIL synchrotron facility. These are compared with theoretical spectra calculated using coupled cluster theory and algebraic diagrammatic construction theory. The coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples model known as CC3 is shown to accurately reproduce the experimental excitation energies as well as the spacing of the vibrational transitions. The computational results are also shown to be systematically improved within the coupled cluster hierarchy, with the coupled cluster singles, doubles, triples, and quadruples method faithfully reproducing the experimental vibrational structure.

Crossing conditions in coupled cluster theory.

We derive the crossing conditions at conical intersections between electronic states in coupled cluster theory and show that if the coupled cluster Jacobian matrix is nondefective, two (three) independent conditions are correctly placed on the nuclear degrees of freedom for an inherently real (complex) Hamiltonian. Calculations using coupled cluster theory on a 21A'/31A' conical intersection in hypofluorous acid illustrate the nonphysical artifacts associated with defects at accidental same-symmetry intersections. In particular, the observed intersection seam is folded about a space of the correct dimensionality, indicating that minor modifications to the theory are required for it to provide a correct description of conical intersections in general. We find that an accidental symmetry allowed 11A″/21A″ intersection in hydrogen sulfide is properly described, showing no artifacts as well as linearity of the energy gap to first order in the branching plane.

The multilevel CC3 coupled cluster model.

We present an efficient implementation of the closed shell multilevel coupled cluster method where coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) is used for the inactive orbital space and CCSD with perturbative triples (CC3) is employed for the smaller active orbital space. Using Cholesky orbitals, the active space can be spatially localized and the computational cost is greatly reduced compared to full CC3 while retaining the accuracy of CC3 excitation energies. For the small organic molecules considered we achieve up to two orders of magnitude reduction in the computational requirements.

Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure within Multilevel Coupled Cluster Theory.

Core excited states are challenging to calculate, mainly because they are embedded in a manifold of high-energy valence-excited states. However, their locality makes their determination ideal for local correlation methods. In this paper, we demonstrate the performance of multilevel coupled cluster theory in computing core spectra both within the core-valence separated and the asymmetric Lanczos implementations of coupled cluster linear response theory. We also propose a visualization tool to analyze the excitations using the difference between the ground-state and excited-state electron densities.

Multi-level coupled cluster theory.

We present a general formalism where different levels of coupled cluster theory can be applied to different parts of the molecular system. The system is partitioned into subsystems by Cholesky decomposition of the one-electron Hartree-Fock density matrix. In this way the system can be divided across chemical bonds without discontinuities arising. The coupled cluster wave function is defined in terms of cluster operators for each part and these are determined from a set of coupled equations. The total wave function fulfills the Pauli-principle across all borders and levels of electron correlation. We develop the associated response theory for this multi-level coupled cluster theory and present proof of principle applications. The formalism is an essential tool in order to obtain size-intensive complexity in the calculation of local molecular properties.

The Dalton quantum chemistry program system.

Dalton is a powerful general-purpose program system for the study of molecular electronic structure at the Hartree-Fock, Kohn-Sham, multiconfigurational self-consistent-field, Møller-Plesset, configuration-interaction, and coupled-cluster levels of theory. Apart from the total energy, a wide variety of molecular properties may be calculated using these electronic-structure models. Molecular gradients and Hessians are available for geometry optimizations, molecular dynamics, and vibrational studies, whereas magnetic resonance and optical activity can be studied in a gauge-origin-invariant manner. Frequency-dependent molecular properties can be calculated using linear, quadratic, and cubic response theory. A large number of singlet and triplet perturbation operators are available for the study of one-, two-, and three-photon processes. Environmental effects may be included using various dielectric-medium and quantum-mechanics/molecular-mechanics models. Large molecules may be studied using linear-scaling and massively parallel algorithms. Dalton is distributed at no cost from http://www.daltonprogram.org for a number of UNIX platforms.