Investigation of density functionals to predict both ground-state properties and band structures

Valence band x-ray emission spectra of compressed germanium

We report measurements of the valence band width in compressed Ge determined from x-ray emission spectra below the Ge K edge. The width of the valence band does not show any pressure dependence in the semiconducting diamond-type structure of Ge below 10 GPa. On the other hand, in the metallic beta-Sn phase above 10 GPa the valence band width increases under compression. Density-functional calculations show an increasing valence band width under compression both in the semiconducting phase (contrary to experiment) and in the metallic beta-Sn phase of Ge (in agreement with observed pressure-induced broadening). The pressure-independent valence band width in the semiconducting phase of Ge appears to require theoretical advances beyond the density-functional theory or the GW approximation.

Efficient total energy calculations from self-energy models

We propose a new method for calculating total energies of systems of interacting electrons, which requires little more computational resources than standard density-functional theories. The total energy is calculated within the framework of many-body perturbation theory by using an efficient model of the self-energy, that nevertheless retains the main features of the exact operator. The method shows promising performance when tested against quantum Monte Carlo results for the linear response of the homogeneous electron gas and structural properties of bulk silicon.