Variational Monte Carlo basics and applications to atoms and molecules

TitleVariational Monte Carlo basics and applications to atoms and molecules
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication1999
AuthorsUmrigar CJ
EditorNightingale MP, Umrigar CJ
Conference NameQUANTUM MONTE CARLO METHODS IN PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
PublisherNATO Adv Study Inst; Natl Sci Fdn; Ctr Europeen Calcul Atom Molec; Cornell Univ
ISBN Number0-7923-5551-2
Abstract

The two ingredients of variational Monte Carlo, viz., the Metropolis method for sampling any known probability distribution and the variance minimization method for optimizing trial wavefunctions are discussed. General issues, related to the efficiency of the methods, such as the choice of the Metropolis proposal matrix, are emphasised. The ideas are illustrated by examples from electronic structure calculations of atoms and molecules.