Low-Order Scaling Quasiparticle Self-Consistent GW for Molecules

Low-order scaling GW implementations for molecules are usually restricted to approximations with diagonal self-energy. Here, we present an all-electron implementation of quasiparticle self-consistent GW for molecular systems. We use an efficient algorithm for the evaluation of the self-energy in imaginary time, from which a static non-local exchange-correlation potential is calculated via analytical continuation. By using a direct inversion of iterative subspace method, fast and stable convergence is achieved for almost all molecules in the GW100 database. Exceptions are systems which are associated with a breakdown of the single quasiparticle picture in the valence region. The implementation is proven to be starting point independent and good agreement of QP energies with other codes is observed. We demonstrate the computational efficiency of the new implementation by calculating the quasiparticle spectrum of a DNA oligomer with 1,220 electrons using a basis of 6,300 atomic orbitals in less than 4 days on a single compute node with 16 cores. We use then our implementation to study the dependence of quasiparticle energies of DNA oligomers consisting of adenine-thymine pairs on the oligomer size. The first ionization potential in vacuum decreases by nearly 1 electron volt and the electron affinity increases by 0.4 eV going from the smallest to the largest considered oligomer. This shows that the DNA environment stabilizes the hole/electron resulting from photoexcitation/photoattachment. Upon inclusion of the aqueous environment via a polarizable continuum model, the differences between the ionization potentials reduce to 130 meV, demonstrating that the solvent effectively compensates for the stabilizing effect of the DNA environment. The electron affinities of the different oligomers are almost identical in the aqueous environment.

Automated summary

An all-electron implementation of quasiparticle self-consistent GW for molecular systems is presented, achieving fast and stable convergence with good agreement compared to other codes. The computational efficiency of the new implementation is demonstrated by calculating the quasiparticle spectrum of a DNA oligomer with 1,220 electrons using a basis of 6,300 atomic orbitals. The study shows the dependence of quasiparticle energies of DNA oligomers on the oligomer size and the stabilizing effects of the DNA environment and aqueous environment on ionization potentials and electron affinities.