The magnitude of finite-size effects and Coulomb interactions in quantum Monte Carlo simulations of van der Waals interactions between weakly bonded benzene molecules are investigated. To that extent, two trial wave functions of the Slater-Jastrow and Backflow-Slater-Jastrow types are employed to calculate the energy-volume equation of state. We assess the impact of the backflow coordinate transformation on the non-local correlation energy. We found that the effect of finite-size errors in quantum Monte Carlo calculations on energy differences is particularly large and may even be more important than the employed trial wave function. Beside the cohesive energy, the singlet excitonic energy gap and the energy gap renormalization of crystalline benzene at different densities are computed.
The van der Waals interactions between two parallel graphitic nanowiggles (GNWs) are calculated using the coupled dipole method (CDM). The CDM is an efficient and accurate approach to determine such interactions explicitly by taking into account the discrete atomic structure. Our findings show that the van der Waals forces vary from attraction to repulsion as nanoribbons move along their lengths with respect to each other. This feature leads to a number of stable and unstable positions of the system during the movement process. These positions can be tuned by changing the length of GNW. Moreover, the influence of the thermal effect on the van der Waals interactions is also extensively investigated. This work would give good direction for both future theoretical and experimental studies.
Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods have been used to obtain accurate binding-energy data for pairs of parallel thin metallic wires and layers modeled by 1D and 2D homogeneous electron gases. We compare our QMC binding energies with results obtained within the random phase approximation, finding significant quantitative differences and disagreement over the asymptotic behavior for bilayers at low densities. We have calculated pair-correlation functions for metallic biwire and bilayer systems. Our QMC data could be used to investigate van der Waals energy functionals.
We analyse van der Waals interactions between a pair of dielectrically anisotropic plane-layered media interacting across a dielectrically isotropic solvent medium. We develop a general formalism based on transfer matrices to investigate the van der Waals torque and force in the limit of weak birefringence and dielectric matching between the ordinary axes of the anisotropic layers and the solvent. We apply this formalism to study the following systems: (i) a pair of single anisotropic layers, (ii) a single anisotropic layer interacting with a multilayered slab consisting of alternating anisotropic and isotropic layers, and (iii) a pair of multilayered slabs each consisting of alternating anisotropic and isotropic layers, looking at the cases where the optic axes lie parallel and/or perpendicular to the plane of the layers. For the first case, the optic axes of the oppositely facing anisotropic layers of the two interacting slabs generally possess an angular mismatch, and within each multilayered slab the optic axes may either be the same, or undergo constant angular increments across the anisotropic layers. In particular, we examine how the behaviors of the van der Waals torque and force can be tuned by adjusting the layer thicknesses, the relative angular increment within each slab, and the angular mismatch between the slabs.
The dispersion interaction between a pair of parallel DNA double-helix structures is investigated by means of the van der Waals density functional (vdW-DF) method. Each double-helix structure consists of an infinite repetition of one B-DNA coil with 10 base pairs. This parameter-free density functional theory (DFT) study illustrates the initial step in a proposed vdW-DF computational strategy for large biomolecular problems. The strategy is to first perform a survey of interaction geometries, based on the evaluation of the van der Waals (vdW) attraction, and then limit the evaluation of the remaining DFT parts (specifically the expensive study of the kinetic-energy repulsion) to the thus identified interesting geometries. Possibilities for accelerating this second step is detailed in a separate study. For the B-DNA dimer, the variation in van der Waals attraction is explored at relatively short distances (although beyond the region of density overlap) for a 360 degrees rotation. This study highlights the role of the structural motifs, like the grooves, in enhancing or reducing the vdW interaction strength. We find that to a first approximation, it is possible to compare the DNA double strand at large wall-to-wall separations to the cylindrical shape of a carbon nanotube (which is almost isotropic under rotation). We compare our first-principles results with the atom-based dispersive interaction predicted by DFT-D2 [J. Comp. Chem. 27, 1787 (2006)] and find agreement in the asymptotic region. However, we also find that the differences in the enhancement that occur at shorter distances reveal characteristic features that result from the fact that the vdW-DF method is an electron-based (as opposed to atom-based) description.
The adsorption of aromatic molecules on metal surfaces plays a key role in condensed matter physics and functional materials. Depending on the strength of the interaction between the molecule and the surface, the binding is typically classified as either physisorption or chemisorption. Van der Waals (vdW) interactions contribute significantly to the binding in physisorbed systems, but the role of the vdW energy in chemisorbed systems remains unclear. Here we study the interaction of benzene with the (111) surface of transition metals, ranging from weak adsorption (Ag and Au) to strong adsorption (Pt, Pd, Ir, and Rh). When vdW interactions are accurately accounted for, the barrier to adsorption predicted by standard density functional theory (DFT) calculations essentially vanishes, producing a metastable precursor state on Pt and Ir surfaces. Notably, vdW forces contribute more to the binding of covalently bonded benzene than they do when benzene is physisorbed. Comparison to experimental data demonstrates that some of the recently developed methods for including vdW interactions in DFT allow quantitative treatment of both weakly and strongly adsorbed aromatic molecules on metal surfaces, extending the already excellent performance found for gas-phase molecules.