Variational solution of the three-dimensional Schrödinger equation using plane waves in adaptive coordinates

A series of improvements for the solution of the three-dimensional Schrödinger equation over a method introduced by Gygi [F. Gygi, Europhys. Lett. 19, 617 (1992); F. Gygi, Phys. Rev. B 48, 11692 (1993)] are presented. As in the original Gygi's method, the solution (orbital) is expressed by means of plane waves in adaptive coordinates u, where u is mapped from Cartesian coordinates, u=f(r). The improvements implemented are threefold. First, maps are introduced that allow the application of the method to atoms and molecules without the assistance of the supercell approximation. Second, the electron-nucleus singularities are exactly removed, so that pseudo-potentials are no longer required. Third, the sampling error during integral evaluation is made negligible, which results in a true variational, second-order energy error procedure. The method is tested on the hydrogen atom (ground and excited states) and the H(2)(+) molecule, resulting in milli-Hartree accuracy with a moderate number of plane waves.