Chemical accuracy is difficult to achieve for systems with transition metal atoms. Third row transition metal atoms are particularly challenging due to strong electron-electron correlation in localized d-orbitals. The Cr2 molecule is an outstanding example, which we previously treated with highly accurate auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) calculations [Purwanto et al., J. Chem. Phys. 142, 064302 (2015)]. Somewhat surprisingly, computational description of the isoelectronic Mo2 dimer has also, to date, been scattered and less than satisfactory. We present high-level theoretical benchmarks of the Mo2 singlet ground state (X1Σg+) and first triplet excited state (a3Σu+), using the phaseless AFQMC calculations. Extrapolation to the complete basis set limit is performed. Excellent agreement with experimental spectroscopic constants is obtained. We also present a comparison of the correlation effects in Cr2 and Mo2.
@article{arxiv.1603.07336,
title = {Auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the molybdenum dimer},
author = {Wirawan Purwanto and Shiwei Zhang and Henry Krakauer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.07336},
year = {2016}
}