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Tapio Rantala

Publications and source records attributed to Tapio Rantala.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Electronic Structure Calculation with the Exact Pseudopotential and Interpolating Wavelet Basis

Electronic structure calculations are mostly carried out with Coulomb potential singularity adapted basis sets like STO or contracted GTO. With other basis or for heavy elements the pseudopotentials may appear as a practical alternative. Here, we introduce the exact pseudopotential (EPP) to remove the Coulomb singularity and test it for orbitals of small atoms with the interpolating wave basis set. We apply EPP to the Galerkin method with a basis set consisting of Deslauriers--Dubuc scaling functions on the half-infinite real interval. We demonstrate the EPP--Galerkin method by computing the hydrogen atom 1s, 2s, and 2p orbitals and helium atom configurations $\mathrm{He\;1s^2}$, $\mathrm{He\;1s2s\;{}^1 S}$, and $\mathrm{He\;1s2s\;{}^3 S}$. We compare the method to the ordinary interpolating wavelet Galerkin method (OIW--Galerkin) handling the singularity at the nucleus by excluding the scaling function located at the origin from the basis. We also compare the performance of our approach to that of finite--difference approach, which is another practical method for spherical atoms. We find the accuracy of the EPP--Galerkin method better than both of the above mentioned methods.

physics.chem-ph

Selective hydrogen production at platinum surfaces investigated by the Quantum Monte Carlo approach to chemical reactions

The present letter describes an atomic scale investigation of a chemical reaction for selective hydrogen production. This clean fuel is a sustainable energy source. Because electron transfer is the key to such reactions, accurate methods based on quantum theory are used. The reaction between water and carbon monoxide has been used industrially with metal catalysts, usually Platinum. There is a considerable economic and environmental challenge underpinning this application of a fundamental process limited by bond dissociation. That is the process often limiting reaction rates for industrial catalysis. Most mainstream quantum approaches fail to greater or lesser degree in the description of bond dissociation. The present work presents a promising alternative: the initial analysis of a considerable mass of statistical data generated by the atomic-scale Quantum Monte Carlo method to very stringent statistical accuracy for essential information on the hydrogen production via the water-gas shift reaction with platinum catalyst. This is encouraging for establishing less well-known benchmark values of industrial reaction barriers on Pt(111).

physics.chem-ph