Excited State Mean-Field Theory without Automatic Differentiation

Abstract: We present a formulation of excited state mean-field theory in which the derivatives with respect to the wave function parameters needed for wave function optimization (not to be confused with nuclear derivatives) are expressed analytically in terms of a collection of Fock-like matrices. By avoiding the use of automatic differentiation and grouping Fock builds together, we find that the number of times we must access the memory-intensive two-electron integrals can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, the new formulation allows the theory to exploit existing strategies for efficient Fock matrix construction. We demonstrate this advantage explicitly via the shell-pair screening strategy, with which we achieve a cubic overall cost scaling. Using this more efficient implementation, we also examine the theory's ability to predict charge redistribution during charge transfer excitations. Using coupled cluster as a benchmark, we find that by capturing orbital relaxation effects and avoiding self-interaction errors, excited state mean field theory out-performs other low-cost methods when predicting the charge density changes of charge transfer excitations.