Correlation energy and dispersion interaction in the ab initio potential energy curve of the neon dimer

A close approximation to the empirical potential energy curve of the neon dimer is obtained by coupled-cluster singles plus doubles plus noniterative triples calculations by using nonaugmented correlation-consistent basis sets without counterpoise corrections and complementing them by three-term extrapolations to the complete basis set limit. The potential energy is resolved into a self-consistent-field Hartree-Fock contribution and a correlation contribution. The latter is shown to decay in the long-range region in accordance with the empirical dispersion expansion. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.