Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the dissociation energies of three-electron hemibonded radical cationic dimers

We report variational and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (VMC and DMC) calculations of the dissociation energies of the three-electron hemibonded radical cationic dimers of He, $NH3$⁠, $H2O$⁠, HF, and Ne. These systems are particularly difficult for standard density-functional methods such as the local-density approximation and the generalized gradient approximation. We have performed both all-electron (AE) and pseudopotential (PP) calculations using Slater-Jastrow wave functions with Hartree-Fock single-particle orbitals. Our results are in good agreement with coupled-cluster CCSD(T) calculations. We have also studied the relative stability of the hemibonded and hydrogen-bonded water radical dimer isomers. Our calculations indicate that the latter isomer is more stable, in agreement with post-Hartree-Fock methods. The excellent agreement between our AE and PP results demonstrates the high quality of the PPs used within our VMC and DMC calculations.