Ionization energy of atoms obtained from GW self-energy or from random phase approximation total energies

A systematic evaluation of the ionization energy within the GW approximation is carried out for the first row atoms, from H to Ar. We describe a Gaussian basis implementation of the GW approximation, which does not resort to any further technical approximation, besides the choice of the basis set for the electronic wavefunctions. Different approaches to the GW approximation have been implemented and tested, for example, the standard perturbative approach based on a prior mean-field calculation (Hartree-Fock GW@FIF or density-functional theory GW@DFT) or the recently developed quasiparticle self-consistent method (QSGW). The highest occupied molecular orbital energies of atoms obtained from both GW@FIF and QSGW are in excellent agreement with the experimental ionization energy. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies of the singly charged cation yield a noticeably worse estimate of the ionization energy. The best agreement with respect to experiment is obtained from the total energy differences within the random phase approximation functional, which is the total energy corresponding to the GW self-energy. We conclude with a discussion about the slight concave behavior upon number electron change of the GW approximation and its consequences upon the quality of the orbital energies. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4718428]