Static correlation beyond the random phase approximation: Dissociating H2 with the Bethe-Salpeter equation and time-dependent GW

We investigate various approximations to the correlation energy of a H₂ molecule in the dissociation limit, where the ground state is poorly described by a single Slater determinant. The correlation energies are derived from the density response function and it is shown that response functions derived from Hedin's equations (Random Phase Approximation (RPA), Time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF), Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE), and Time-Dependent GW) all reproduce the correct dissociation limit. We also show that the BSE improves the correlation energies obtained within RPA and TDHF significantly for intermediate binding distances. A Hubbard model for the dimer allows us to obtain exact analytical results for the various approximations, which is readily compared with the exact diagonalization of the model. Moreover, the model is shown to reproduce all the qualitative results from the ab initio calculations and confirms that BSE greatly improves the RPA and TDHF results despite the fact that the BSE excitation spectrum breaks down in the dissociation limit. In contrast, second order screened exchange gives a poor description of the dissociation limit, which can be attributed to the fact that it cannot be derived from an irreducible response function. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.