The coupled cluster singles, doubles, and a hybrid treatment of connected triples based on the split virtual orbitals

We have proposed a simple strategy for splitting the virtual orbitals with a large basis set into two subgroups (active and inactive) by taking a smaller basis set as an auxiliary basis set. With the split virtual orbitals (SVOs), triple or higher excitations can be partitioned into active and inactive subgroups (according to the number of active virtual orbitals involved), which can be treated with different electron correlation methods. In this work, the coupled cluster (CC) singles, doubles, and a hybrid treatment of connected triples based on the SVO [denoted as SVO-CCSD(T)-h], has been implemented. The present approach has been applied to study the bond breaking potential energy surfaces in three molecules (HF, F(2), and N(2)), and the equilibrium properties in a number of open-shell diatomic molecules. For all systems under study, the SVO-CCSD(T)-h method based on the unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) reference is an excellent approximation to the corresponding CCSDT (CC singles, doubles, and triples), and much better than the UHF-based CCSD(T) (CC singles, doubles, and perturbative triples). On the other hand, the SVO-CCSD(T)-h method based on the restricted HF (RHF) reference can also provide considerable improvement over the RHF-based CCSD(T).