Critical assessment of the x-ray restrained wave function approach: Advantages, drawbacks, and perspectives for density functional theory and periodic ab initio calculations

Abstract

The x-ray restrained wave function (XRW) method is a quantum crystallographic technique to extract wave functions compatible with experimental x-ray diffraction data. The approach looks for wave functions that minimize the energies of the investigated systems and also reproduce sets of x-ray structure factors. Given the strict relationship between x-ray structure factors and electron distributions, the strategy practically allows determining wave functions that correspond to given (usually experimental) electron densities. In this work, the capabilities of the XRW approach were further tested. The aim was to evaluate whether the XRW technique could serve as a tool for suggesting new exchange-correlation functionals for density functional theory or refining existing ones. Additionally, the ability of the method to address the influences of the crystalline environment was also assessed. The outcomes of XRW computations were thus compared to those of traditional gas-phase, embedding quant

Publication
The Journal of Chemical Physics