Beyond the Random-Phase Approximation for the Electron Correlation Energy: The Importance of Single Excitations

The random-phase approximation (RPA) for the electron correlation energy, combined with the exact-exchange (EX) energy, represents the state-of-the-art exchange-correlation functional within density-functional theory. However, the standard RPA practice-evaluating both the EX and the RPA correlation energies using Kohn-Sham (KS) orbitals from local or semilocal exchange-correlation functionals-leads to a systematic underbinding of molecules and solids. Here we demonstrate that this behavior can be corrected by adding a "single excitation'' contribution, so far not included in the standard RPA scheme. A similar improvement can also be achieved by replacing the non-self-consistent EX total energy by the corresponding self-consistent Hartree-Fock total energy, while retaining the RPA correlation energy evaluated using KS orbitals. Both schemes achieve chemical accuracy for a standard benchmark set of noncovalent intermolecular interactions.