Quantum Monte Carlo Calculations for Minimum Energy Structures

We present an efficient method to find minimum energy structures using energy estimates from accurate quantum Monte Carlo calculations. This method involves a stochastic process formed from the stochastic energy estimates from Monte Carlo calculations that can be averaged to find precise structural...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wagner, Lucas K., Grossman, Jeffrey C.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Physical Society 2010
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58776
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1281-2359
Description
Summary:We present an efficient method to find minimum energy structures using energy estimates from accurate quantum Monte Carlo calculations. This method involves a stochastic process formed from the stochastic energy estimates from Monte Carlo calculations that can be averaged to find precise structural minima while using inexpensive calculations with moderate statistical uncertainty. We demonstrate the applicability of the algorithm by minimizing the energy of the H2O-OH- complex and showing that the structural minima from quantum Monte Carlo calculations affect the qualitative behavior of the potential energy surface substantially.