Accurate simulations of metals at the mesoscale: Explicit treatment of 1 million atoms with quantum mechanics

Linda Hung, Emily A. Carter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

96 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a fully linear scaling (at most O(N · log(N))) and parallel algorithm for orbital-free density functional theory (OFDFT), for the first time exhibiting linear scaling in all terms (electronic and ionic). OFDFT solves directly for the electron density; consequently, the electron kinetic energy is determined using density functionals, which must be nonlocal to provide sufficient accuracy. The systematic elimination of bottlenecks within OFDFT renders the entire algorithm quasilinear scaling for all system sizes (no crossover point). Now an unprecedented number of atoms (∼1 million) can be treated explicitly quantum mechanically within OFDFT with a modest number of processors, opening up the door to treatment of ever more complex features in materials (precipitates, dislocations, etc.) without introducing empirical assumptions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)163-170
Number of pages8
JournalChemical Physics Letters
Volume475
Issue number4-6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 25 2009

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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