# ABINIT, ground state calculations input variables:

## List and description.

This document lists and provides the description of the name (keywords) of the "ground state calculations" input variables to be used in the main input file of the abinit code.

##### Copyright (C) 1998-2017 ABINIT group (DCA,XG,RC,YG,FJ)

### Content of the file : alphabetical list of "ground state calculations" variables.

A. algalch
B. boxcenter boxcutmin
C. charge chkexit chkprim chksymbreak cpuh cpum cpus
D. diecut diegap dielam dielng diemac diemix diemixmag dosdeltae
E. enunit
F. fband fockoptmix
G.
H.
I. iatsph icoulomb iprcel iqpt ixcpositron
J. jellslab
K. kptbounds kptrlatt kptrlen
L.
M. magcon_lambda magconon mixalch
N. natsph natsph_extra nbdbuf ndivk ndivsm ngfft ngqpt nline npsp npspalch nqpt nshiftq nspden nspinor ntypalch ntyppure nucdipmom nwfshist
O. occ optdriver optstress
P. posdoppler positron posnstep posocc postoldfe postoldff prtdensph prtebands
Q. qpt qptnrm qptopt qptrlatt
R. ratsph ratsph_extra
S. scphon_supercell scphon_temp shiftq slabwsrad slabzbeg slabzend so_psp spinat stmbias symafm
T. timopt tl_nprccg tl_radius tphysel tsmear
U. usekden
V. vacuum vacwidth
W. wtq wvl_bigdft_comp wvl_crmult wvl_frmult wvl_ngauss wvl_nprccg
X. xredsph_extra

algalch
Mnemonics: ALGorithm for generating ALCHemical pseudopotentials
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: AtomTypes.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v3:[92]}.
Variable type: integer(ntypalch)
Default is *1

Used for the generation of alchemical pseudopotentials, that is, when ntypalch is non-zero.

Give the algorithm to be used to generate the ntypalch alchemical potentials from the different npspalch pseudopotentials dedicated to this use.

Presently, algalch can only have the value 1, that is :

- the local potentials are mixed, thanks to the mixalch mixing coefficients
- the form factors of the non-local projectors are all preserved, and all considered to generate the alchemical potential
- the scalar coefficients of the non-local projectors are multiplied by the proportion of the corresponding type of atom that is present in mixalch
- the characteristic radius for the core charge is a linear combination of the characteristic radii of the core charges, build with the mixalch mixing coefficients
- the core charge function f(r/rc) is a linear combination of the core charge functions, build with the mixalch mixing coefficients

Later, other algorithms for the mixing might be included.

Note that alchemical mixing cannot be used with PAW.

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boxcenter
Mnemonics: BOX CENTER
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: TDDFT.
Rarely used: [8/907] in abinit tests, [1/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {paral:[05],tutorial:[tddft_1],v1:[69,70],v2:[42],v3:[54,55],v5:[61]}.
Variable type: real(3)
Default is [0.5, 0.5, 0.5]

Defines the center of the box, in reduced coordinates. At present, this information is only used in the case of Time-Dependent DFT computation of the oscillator strength. One must take boxcenter such as to be roughly the center of the cluster or molecule. The default is sensible when the vacuum surrounding the cluster or molecule has xred 0 or 1. On the contrary, when the cluster or molecule is close to the origin, it is better to take boxcenter=(0 0 0).

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boxcutmin
Mnemonics: BOX CUT-off MINimum
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topics: Planewaves, TuningSpeed.
Rarely used: [7/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {mpiio:[42],paral:[42],v3:[43],v5:[75,76],v7:[95],v8:[02]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 2.0

The box cut-off ratio is the ratio between the wavefunction plane wave sphere radius, and the radius of the sphere that can be inserted in the FFT box, in reciprocal space. In order for the density to be exact (in the case of plane wave, not PAW), this ratio should be at least two. If one uses a smaller ratio, one will gain speed, at the expense of accuracy. In case of pure ground state calculation (e.g. for the determination of geometries), this is sensible. However, the wavefunctions that are obtained CANNOT be used for starting response function calculation.

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charge
Mnemonics: CHARGE
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Coulomb.
Rarely used: [9/907] in abinit tests, [4/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutoparal:[string_01,string_02,string_03,string_04],v2:[42],v3:[54],v5:[42],v6:[67],v7:[26]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0

Used to establish charge balance between the number of electrons filling the bands and the nominal charge associated with the atomic cores.
The code adds up the number of valence electrons provided by the pseudopotentials of each type (call this "zval"), then add charge, to get the number of electrons per unit cell, nelect.
Then, if iscf is positive, the code adds up the band occupancies (given in array occ) for all bands at each k point, then multiplies by the k point weight wtk at each k point. Call this sum "nelect_occ" (for the number of electrons from occupation numbers). It is then required that:
nelect_occ = nelect
To treat a neutral system, which is desired in nearly all cases, one must use charge=0. To treat a system missing one electron per unit cell, set charge=+1.

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chkexit
Mnemonics: CHecK whether the user want to EXIT
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Control.
Rarely used: [2/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v1:[97],v4:[97]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

If chkexit is 1 or 2, ABINIT will check whether the user wants to interrupt the run (using the keyword "exit" on the top of the input file or creating a file named "abinit.exit": see the end of section 3.2 of the abinit help file).

If chkexit=0, the check is not performed at all

If chkexit=1, the check is not performed frequently (after each SCF step)

If chkexit=2, the check is performed frequently (after a few bands, at each k point)

In all cases, the check is performed at most every 2 seconds of CPU time.

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chkprim
Mnemonics: CHecK whether the cell is PRIMitive
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topics: crystal, UnitCell, SmartSymm.
Moderately used: [40/907] in abinit tests, [7/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorial:[base4_4,fold2bloch_1,positron_2,positron_3,positron_4,udet_1,udet_2]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 1

If the symmetry finder is used (see nsym), a non-zero value of chkprim will make the code stop if a non-primitive cell is used. If chkprim=0, a warning is issued, but the run does not stop.

If you are generating the atomic and cell geometry using spgroup, you might generate a PRIMITIVE cell using brvltt=-1 .

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chksymbreak
Mnemonics: CHecK SYMmetry BREAKing
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: k-points.
Moderately used: [64/907] in abinit tests, [10/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: integer
Default is 1

This variable governs the behaviour of the code when there are potential source of symmetry breaking, related e.g. to the k point grid or the presence of non-symmorphic translations which might not be coherent with the exchange-correlation grid.

When chksymbreak=1, the code stops (or issue a warning) if :

- (1) The k point grid is non-symmetric, in case kptopt =1, 2, or 4 ;
- (2) The non-symmorphic translation part of the symmetry operations has components that are not zero, or simple fractions, with 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 as denominators.

When chksymbreak is zero, there is no such check.
When chksymbreak is minus 1, the code stops if the condition (1) is met, but in case the condition (2) is met, there will be a trial to shift the atomic coordinates such as to obtain symmetry operations with the adequate non-symmorphic part.

Explanation :
In the ground-state calculation, such breaking of the symmetry is usually harmless. However, if the user is doing a calculation of phonons using DFPT (rfphon=1), the convergence with respect to the number of k points will be much worse with a non-symmetric grid than with a symmetric one. Also, if the user is doing a GW calculation, the presence of non-symmorphic translations that are not coherent with the FFT grid might cause problems. In the GW part, indeed, one needs to reconstruct the wavefunctions in the full Brillouin zone for calculating both the polarizability and the self-energy. The wavefunctions in the full Brillouin zone are obtained from the irreducible wedge by applying the symmetry operations of the space group of the crystal. In the present implementation, the symmetrization of the wavefunctions is done in real space on the FFT mesh that, therefore, has to be coherent both with the rotational part as well as with the fractional translation of each symmetry operation. If the condition (2) is met, the GW code will not be able to find a symmetry-preserving FFT mesh.
So, it was decided to warn the user about these possible problems already at the level of the ground state calculations, although such warning might be irrelevant.
If you encounter a problem outlined above, you have two choices : change your atomic positions (translate them) such that the origin appears as the most symmetric point ; or ignore the problem, and set chksymbreak=0 .

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cpuh
Mnemonics: CPU time limit in Hours
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: Control.
Rarely used: [0/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0
The use of this variable forbids the use of specified(cpum) or specified(cpus)

Only one of the three real parameters cpus, cpum and cpuh can be defined in the input file to set up a CPU time limit. When the job reaches that limit, it will try to end smoothly. However, note that this might still take some time. If the user want a firm CPU time limit, the present parameter must be reduced sufficiently. Intuition about the actual margin to be taken into account should come with experience ...
A zero value has no action of the job.

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cpum
Mnemonics: CPU time limit in Minutes
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: Control.
Rarely used: [0/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0
The use of this variable forbids the use of specified(cpum) or specified(cpus)

Only one of the three real parameters cpus, cpum and cpuh can be defined in the input file to set up a CPU time limit. When the job reaches that limit, it will try to end smoothly. However, note that this might still take some time. If the user want a firm CPU time limit, the present parameter must be reduced sufficiently. Intuition about the actual margin to be taken into account should come with experience ...
A zero value has no action of the job.

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cpus
Mnemonics: CPU time limit in seconds
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: NO_MULTI
Mentioned in topic: Control.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v1:[98]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0
The use of this variable forbids the use of specified(cpum) or specified(cpus)

Only one of the three real parameters cpus, cpum and cpuh can be defined in the input file to set up a CPU time limit. When the job reaches that limit, it will try to end smoothly. However, note that this might still take some time. If the user want a firm CPU time limit, the present parameter must be reduced sufficiently. Intuition about the actual margin to be taken into account should come with experience ...
A zero value has no action of the job.

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diecut
Mnemonics: DIElectric matrix energy CUToff
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: ENERGY
Mentioned in topic: SCFAlgorithms.
Moderately used: [14/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {}.
Variable type: real
Default is 2.2

Kinetic energy cutoff that controls the number of planewaves used to represent the dielectric matrix:
(1/2)[(2 Pi)*(Gmax)] 2 =ecut for Gmax.
Can be specified in Ha (the default), Ry, eV or Kelvin, since diecut has the 'ENERGY' characteristics. (1 Ha=27.2113845 eV)
All planewaves inside this "basis sphere" centered at G=0 are included in the basis. This is useful only when iprcel>=21, which means that a preconditioning scheme based on the dielectric matrix is used.
NOTE : a negative diecut will define the same dielectric basis sphere as the corresponding positive value, but the FFT grid will be identical to the one used for the wavefunctions. The much smaller FFT grid, used when diecut is positive, gives exactly the same results.
No meaning for RF calculations yet.

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diegap
Mnemonics: DIElectric matrix GAP
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: ENERGY
Mentioned in topic: SCFAlgorithms.
Rarely used: [8/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v1:[51,53,54,55],v2:[05,08],v6:[01,02]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.1

Gives a rough estimation of the dielectric gap between the highest energy level computed in the run, and the set of bands not represented. Used to extrapolate dielectric matrix when iprcel >= 21.
Can be specified in Ha (the default), Ry, eV or Kelvin, since diegap has the 'ENERGY' characteristics. (1 Ha=27.2113845 eV)
No meaning for RF calculations yet.

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dielam
Mnemonics: DIElectric matrix LAMbda
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: SCFAlgorithms.
Rarely used: [8/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v1:[51,53,54,55],v2:[05,08],v6:[01,02]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.5
Only relevant if iprcel >= 21

Gives the amount of occupied states with mean energy given by the highest level computed in the run, included in the extrapolation of the dielectric matrix.
No meaning for RF calculations yet.

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dielng
Mnemonics: model DIElectric screening LeNGth
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: SCFAlgorithms.
Rarely used: [4/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v1:[00,38],v3:[09],v4:[97]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 1.0774841d0

Used for screening length (in Bohr) of the model dielectric function, diagonal in reciprocal space. By default, given in Bohr atomic units (1 Bohr=0.5291772108 Angstrom), although Angstrom can be specified, if preferred, since dielng has the 'LENGTH' characteristics.
This model dielectric function is as follows (K being a wavevector) :

             (     1        +     dielng2* K2   )
    diel(K)= ------------------------------------
             ( 1/diemac + dielng2 * K2 ) * diemix

The inverse of this model dielectric function will be applied to the residual, to give the preconditioned change of potential. Right at K=0, diel(K) is imposed to be 1.

If the preconditioning were perfect, the change of potential would lead to an exceedingly fast solution of the self-consistency problem (two or three steps). The present model dielectric function is excellent for rather homogeneous unit cells.
When K->0 , it tends to the macroscopic dielectric constant, eventually divided by the mixing factor diemix (or diemixmag for magnetization).
For metals, simply put diemac to a very large value (10^6 is OK)
The screening length dielng governs the length scale to go from the macroscopic regime to the microscopic regime, where it is known that the dielectric function should tend to 1. It is on the order of 1 Bohr for metals with medium density of states at the Fermi level, like Molybdenum, and for Silicon. For metals with a larger DOS at the Fermi level (like Iron), the screening will be more effective, so that dielng has to be decreased by a factor of 2-4.
This works for GS and RF calculations.

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diemac
Mnemonics: model DIElectric MACroscopic constant
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: SCFAlgorithms.
Moderately used: [447/907] in abinit tests, [46/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: real
Default is 1000000.0

A rough knowledge of the macroscopic dielectric constant diemac of the system is a useful help to speed-up the SCF procedure: a model dielectric function, see the keyword dielng, is used for that purpose. It is especially useful for speeding up the treatment of rather homogeneous unit cells.

Some hint :
The value of diemac should usually be bigger than 1.0d0, on physical grounds.
For metals, simply put diemac to a very large value (the default 10 6 is OK)
For silicon, use 12.0 . A similar value is likely to work well for other semiconductors
For wider gap insulators, use 2.0 ... 4.0
For molecules in an otherwise empty big box, try 1.5 ... 3.0
Systems that combine a highly polarisable part and some vacuum are rather badly treated by the model dielectric function. One has to use the "extrapolar" technique, activated by the input variable iprcel.
In sufficiently homogeneous systems, you might have to experiment a bit to find the best diemac. If you let diemac to its default value, you might even never obtain the self-consistent convergence !
For response function calculations, use the same values as for GS. The improvement in speed can be considerable for small (but non-zero) values of the wavevector.

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diemix
Mnemonics: model DIElectric MIXing factor
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: SCFAlgorithms.
Moderately used: [195/907] in abinit tests, [1/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorial:[tddft_1]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 1.0 if usepaw==0 or iprcel !=0, 0.7 if usepaw==1 or iprcel==0, None otherwise.
Only relevant if diemix >= 0.0 and diemix <= 1.0

Gives overall factor of the preconditioned residual density/potential to be transferred in the SCF cycle.
It should be between 0.0 and 1.0 .
If the model dielectric function were perfect, diemix should be 1.0 . By contrast, if the model dielectric function does nothing (when diemac=1.0d0 or dielng is larger than the size of the cell), diemix can be used to damp the amplifying factor inherent to the SCF loop.
For molecules, a value on the order 0.5 or 0.33 is rather usual.
When mod(iscf,10)=3, 4 ,5 or 7, diemix is only important at the few first iterations when anharmonic effects are important, since these schemes compute their own mixing factor for self-consistency.
Also note that a different value of diemix can be used for the magnetization (see diemixmag).

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diemixmag
Mnemonics: model DIElectric MIXing factor for the MAGgnetization
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: spinpolarisation.
Rarely used: [4/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {gpu:[03],v1:[53,54],v5:[16]}.
Variable type: real
Default is diemix if 70 < iprcel and iprcel < 80, diemix if iprcel==0, diemix if iscf<10, -diemix otherwise.

Gives overall factor of the preconditioned residual magnetization/magnetic field to be transferred in the SCF cycle (see diemix for further information).
For the time being, apply only when the SCF mixing is done on the density (iscf>=10).
A negative value of diemixmag means that magnetization is only preconditionned by ABS(diemixmag), without the use of any preconditionner.
When SCF cycle has some difficulties to converge, changing the value of diemixmag can have a positive effect.
In particular diemixmag=-4 is a good choice (i.e. diemixmag=4, no other preconditionner on magnetization).

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dosdeltae
Mnemonics: DOS DELTA in Energy
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: ENERGY
Mentioned in topics: printing, ElecDOS.
Rarely used: [2/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v3:[46],v5:[19]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0

Defines the linear grid resolution (energy increment) to be used for the computation of the Density-Of-States, when prtdos is non-zero.
If dosdeltae is set to zero (the default value), the actual increment is 0.001 Ha if prtdos=1, and the much smaller value 0.00005 Ha if prtdos=2. This different default value arises because the prtdos=1 case, based on a smearing technique, gives a quite smooth DOS, while the DOS from the tetrahedron method, prtdos=2, is rapidly varying.

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enunit
Mnemonics: ENergy UNITs
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Output.
Moderately used: [209/907] in abinit tests, [11/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Governs the units to be used for output of eigenvalues (and eventual phonon frequencies)

- 0=>print eigenvalues in hartree;
- 1=>print eigenvalues in eV;
- 2=>print eigenvalues in both hartree and eV.

If phonon frequencies are to be computed :

- 0=> phonon frequencies in Hartree and cm-1;
- 1=> phonon frequencies in eV and THz;
- 2=> phonon frequencies in hartree, eV, cm-1, Thz and Kelvin.

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fband
Mnemonics: Factor for the number of BANDs
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: BandOcc.
Rarely used: [2/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v1:[03,43]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.5 if occopt>2, 0.0 if usewvl==1, 0.125 if occopt==1, 0.0 otherwise.

Governs the number of bands to be used in the code in the case the parameter nband is not defined in the input file (which means that occopt is not equal to 0 or 2).

In case fband is 0.0d0, the code computes from the pseudopotential files and the geometry data contained in the input file, the number of electrons present in the system. Then, it computes the minimum number of bands that can accommodate them, and use that value for nband.
In case fband differs from zero, other bands will be added, just larger than fband times the number of atoms. This parameter is not echoed in the top of the main output file, but only the parameter nband that it allowed to compute. It is also not present in the dtset array (no internal).
The default values are chosen such as to give naturally some conduction bands. This improves the robustness of the code, since this allows to identify lack of convergence coming from (near-)degeneracies at the Fermi level. In the metallic case, the number of bands generated might be too small if the smearing factor is large. The occupation numbers of the higher bands should be small enough such as to neglect higher bands. It is difficult to automate this, so a fixed default value has been chosen.

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fockoptmix
Mnemonics: FOCK operator : OPTions for MIXing
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Hybrids.
Rarely used: [0/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0
Only relevant if usefock==1

Governs the mixing algorithm at the level of the Fock operator, i.e. how to mix it, and how the underlying SCF calculation is to be performed. It is the most relevant when the Fock operator is not updated at each SCF step (nnsclohf/=0).

The last digit of fockoptmix governs what happens at the level of the SCF algorithm, when the Fock operator is updated.

1. If fockoptmix==0 : the SCF algorithm is not restarted (it continues to use the previous potential/density pairs without worrying).
2. If fockoptmix==1 : the SCF algorithm is restarted (the previous potential/density pairs are discarted).

The second-to-last (dozen) digit governs the possible modification of the XC functional inside the SCF loop to take into account the lack of update of the Fock operator. Irrelevant when the unit digit is 0.

The third-to-last (hundreds) digit governs the mixing of the Fock operator itself with its previous occurrences. Irrelevant when the unit digit is 0.

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iatsph
Mnemonics: Index for the ATomic SPHeres of the atom-projected density-of-states
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topics: printing, ElecBandStructure, ElecDOS.
Rarely used: [8/907] in abinit tests, [1/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {mpiio:[26],tutorial:[spin_3],v4:[35,38],v5:[19,20,40],v7:[04]}.
Variable type: integer(natsph)
Default is [1 .. natsph]
Only relevant if prtdos == 3 or pawfatbnd in [1,2]

iatsph gives the number of the natsph atoms around which the sphere for atom-projected density-of-states will be build, in the prtdos=3 case. The radius of these spheres is given by ratsph.
If pawfatbnd=1 or 2, it gives the number of the natsph atoms around which atom-projected band structure will be built.

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icoulomb
Mnemonics: Index for the Coulomb TReaTMenT
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Coulomb.
Moderately used: [29/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[gswvl_01,gswvl_02]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Defines the type of computation used for Hartree potential, local part of pseudo-potential and ion-ion interaction:

- icoulomb=0 : usual reciprocal space computation, using 1 / g^2 for the Hartree potential and using Ewald correction.
- icoulomb=1 : free boundary conditions are used when the Hartree potential is computed, real space expressions of pseudo-potentials are involved (restricted to GTH pseudo-potentials) and simple coulomb interaction gives the ion-ion energy.

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iprcel
Mnemonics: Integer for PReConditioning of ELectron response
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: SCFAlgorithms.
Moderately used: [25/907] in abinit tests, [3/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[dfpt_03],tutorial:[base4_7,base4_8]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Used when iscf>0, to define the SCF preconditioning scheme. Potential-based preconditioning schemes for the SCF loop (electronic part) are still a subject of active research. The present parameter (electronic part) describes the way the change of potential is derived from the residual.
The possible values of iprcel correspond to :

- 0 => model dielectric function described by diemac, dielng and diemix.
- larger or equal to 21 => will compute the dielectric matrix according to diecut, dielam, diegap. This methodology is described in P.-M. Anglade, X. Gonze, Phys. Rev. B 78, 045126 (2008).
- Between 21 and 29 => for the first few steps uses the same as option 0 then compute RPA dielectric function, and use it as such.
- Between 31 and 39 => for the first few steps uses the same as option 0 then compute RPA dielectric function, and use it, with the mixing factor diemix.
- Between 41 and 49 => compute the RPA dielectric matrix at the first step, and recompute it at a later step, and take into account the mixing factor diemix.
- Between 51 and 59 => same as between 41 and 49, but compute the RPA dielectric matrix by another mean
- Between 61 and 69 => same as between 41 and 49, but compute the electronic dielectric matrix instead of the RPA one.
- Between 71 and 78 => STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT -- NOT USABLE ; Use the modified Kerker preconditioner with a real-space formulation (basic formulation is shown at dielng). The dielectric matrix is approximated thanks to diemac and dielng. Note that diemix is also used.
- 79 => STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT -- NOT USABLE ; same as previous but with an alternate algorithm.
- 141 to 169 => same as Between 41 and 69 (but, the dielectric matrix is also recomputed every iprcel modulo 10 step).

The computation of the dielectric matrix (for 0 [100]< iprcel < 70 [100]) is based on the extrapolar approximation. This approximation can be tuned with diecut, dielam, and diegap. Yet its accuracy mainly depends on the number of conduction bands included in the system. Having 2 to 10 empty bands in the calculation is usually enough (use nband).
NOTES:

- The step at which the dielectric matrix is computed or recomputed is determined by modulo(iprcel,10). The recomputation happens just once in the calculation for iprcel < 100.
- For non-homogeneous relatively large cells iprcel=45 will likely give a large improvement over iprcel=0.
- In case of PAW and iprcel>0, see pawsushat input variable. By default, an approximation (which can be suppressed) is done for the computation of susceptibility matrix.
- For extremely large inhomogeneous cells where computation of the full dielectric matrix takes too many weeks, 70 < iprcel < 80 is advised.
- For nsppol=2 or nspinor=2 with metallic occopt, only mod(iprcel,100) <50 is allowed.
- No meaning for RF calculations yet.
- The exchange term in the full dielectric matrix diverges for vanishing densities. Therefore the values of iprcel beyond 60 must not be used for cells containing vacuum, unless ones computes this matrix for every step (iprcel=161).

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iqpt
Mnemonics: Index for QPoinT generation
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Rarely used: [8/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {paral:[60],tutorespfn:[depes_3,depes_4],v6:[35,78],v7:[50,51,55]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Only used if nqpt=1, and qptopt=1 to 4.

Defines the index of the Q point to be selected in the list of q points generated by ngqpt, qptrlatt, nshiftq, and shiftq.

If iqpt=0, then the q point is Gamma (0 0 0).

The usual working mode is to define a series of values for iqpt, starting with iqpt=0 or 1 (so through the definition of iqpt: ), and increasing it by one for each dataset (thanks to iqpt+ ).

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ixcpositron
Mnemonics: Integer for the eXchange-Correlation applied to the electron-POSITRON interaction
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: positron.
Moderately used: [10/907] in abinit tests, [7/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorial:[positron_1,positron_2,positron_3,positron_4,positron_5,positron_6,positron_7]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 1 (Comment: (Teter parameterization). However, if all the pseudopotentials have the same value of pspxc, the initial value of ixc will be that common value)

Relevant only when positron/=0.
Define the type of electron-positron correlation that is used in case of a electron-positron two-component DFT calculation.
Define also the analytical formula of the enhancement factor used to compute the electron-positron annhilation rate:
Electron-positron correlation functional:

ixcpositron=1 : LDA zero positron density limit parametrized by Arponen & Pajanne and provided by Boronski & Nieminen [1,2]
ixcpositron=11 : LDA zero positron density limit parametrized by Arponen & Pajanne and fitted by Sterne & Kaiser [1,3]
ixcpositron=2 : LDA electron-positron correlation provided by Puska, Seitsonen, and Nieminen [1,4]
ixcpositron=3 : GGA zero positron density limit parametrized by Arponen & Pajanne and provided by Boronski & Nieminen [1,2,5]
ixcpositron=31 : GGA zero positron density limit parametrized by Arponen & Pajanne and fitted by Sterne & Kaiser [1,3,5]

Annihilation rate enhancement factor:

ixcpositron=1 : Boronski and Nieminen full modelisation and RPA limit [1]
ixcpositron=11 : Sterne and Kaiser [2]
ixcpositron=2 : Puska, Seitsonen and Nieminen [3]
ixcpositron=3 : Boronski and Nieminen full modelisation and RPA limit [1], with GGA corrections
ixcpositron=31 : Sterne and Kaiser [2], with GGA corrections

References:

[1] J. Arponen and E. Pajanne, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 121, 343 (1979).
[2] Boronski and R.M. Nieminen, Phys. Rev. B 34, 3820 (1986).
[3] P.A. Sterne and J.H. Kaiser, Phys. Rev. B 43, 13892 (1991).
[4] M.J. Puska, A.P. Seitsonen and R.M. Nieminen, Phys. Rev. B 52, 10947 (1994).
[5] B. Barbiellini, M.J. Puska, T. Torsti and R.M.Nieminen, Phys. Rev. B 51, 7341 (1994)

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jellslab
Mnemonics: include a JELLium SLAB in the cell
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Artificial.
Rarely used: [4/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v5:[56,57,58,59]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

If set to 1, a slab of uniform positive background charge density, that is, a jellium slab, is included in the calculation cell. A portion of the unit cell is filled with such positive charge density distribution which is equal to a bulk-mean value n bulk between two edges and zero in the vacuum region if present.
For the sake of convenience the unit cell is supposed to have the third crystal primitive lattice vector orthogonal to the other ones so that the portion of the cell filled by the jellium slab can be defined through its edges along z.
The bulk-mean positive charge density is fixed by the input variable slabwsrad, while the position of the slab edges along z is defined through the input variables slabzbeg and slabzend.

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kptbounds
Mnemonics: K PoinT BOUNDarieS
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topics: k-points, ElecBandStructure.
Moderately used: [15/907] in abinit tests, [5/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[dmft_1,ucrpa_1],tutorespfn:[depes_4],tutorial:[base3_5,fold2bloch_1]}.
Variable type: real(3,abs(kptopt)+1))
No default

It is used to generate the circuit to be followed by the band structure, when kptopt is negative (it is not read if kptopt is zero or positive).

There are abs(kptopt) segments to be defined, each of which starting from the end point of the preceeding one. Thus, the number of points to be input is abs(kptopt)+1. They form a circuit starting at kptbounds(1:3,1)/kptnrm and ending at kptbounds(1:3,abs(kptopt)+1)/kptnrm. The number of divisions of each segment can be defined either using the array ndivk or the variable ndivsm that just defines the number of divisions for the smallest segment

As for kpt, kptbounds is specified using the primitive vectors in reciprocal space. If your Bravais lattice is simple, then it should be quite easy to find the coordinates of the end points. On the other hand, for centered, body-centered, face-centered, hexagonal, and rhombohedral Bravais lattice, the conversion might be more difficult. See the description of kpt for an explanation of how to convert data from the "conventional" cartesian coordinates to the primitive vectors in the reciprocal space. In order to help a bit, we list below a series of typical values, for the FCC, BCC, hexagonal and rhombohedral Bravais lattices. Note : all the data below are given in dimensionless units ; they have to be rescaled by the actual lengths defined by the acell values. However, kptbounds values can be used as such, if the values of rprim given below are adopted.

A. FCC lattice

Suppose the primitive vectors in real space are given by

      rprim   0 1 1    1 0 1    1 1 0

or

      rprim   0 1/2 1/2    1/2 0 1/2    1/2 1/2 0

(these two possibilities only differ by a scaling factor, irrelevant for the definition of the k points in the primitive vectors in reciprocal space). Then, the reciprocal primitive vectors (in conventional cartesian coordinates) are

      (-1/2 1/2 1/2), (1/2 -1/2 1/2), (1/2 1/2 -1/2)

or

      (-1 1 1), (1 -1 1), (1 1 -1)

and, in both cases, the coordinates of several special points with respect to primitive vectors in reciprocal space are

      X (0   1/2 1/2)   (conventional cartesian coordinate 1/2 0 0)
      X'(1/2 1/2 1  )   (conventional cartesian coordinate 1/2 1/2 0)  (an other instance of X, in another Brillouin zone)
      L (1/2 1/2 1/2)   (conventional cartesian coordinate  1/4 1/4 1/4)
      L'(1/2 0   0  )   (conventional cartesian coordinate -1/4 1/4 1/4) (an other instance of L, on another face of the BZ)
      W (1/4 1/2 3/4)   (conventional cartesian coordinate 1/2 1/4 0)
      U (1/4 5/8 5/8)   (conventional cartesian coordinate 1/2 1/8 1/8)
      K (3/8 3/8 3/4)   (conventional cartesian coordinate 3/8 3/8 0)

Note that K is actually equivalent to U, by spatial and translational symmetry. So, if you want to specify a typical circuit, the following might do the work : L-Gamma-X-W-K,U-L-W-X-K,U-Gamma with

      kptbounds  1/2 0 0  0 0 0  0 1/2 1/2  1/4 1/2 3/4  3/8 3/8 3/4  1/2 1/2 1/2  1/4 1/2 3/4  1/2 1/2 1  3/8 3/8 3/4  0 0 0

The lengths of segments (this information is useful to draw the band structure, with the correct relative scale between special points) can be found using the conventional cartesian coordinates : l(L-Gamma)=sqrt(3)/4=0.433... ; l(Gamma-X)=1/2=0.5 ; l(X-W)=1/4=0.25 ; l(W-K)=sqrt(2)/8=0.177... ; l(K-L)=sqrt(6)/8=0.306... ; l(L-W)=sqrt(2)/4=0.354... ; l(W-X)=1/4=0.25 ; l(X-K)=sqrt(2)/8=0.177... ; l(K-Gamma)=sqrt(2).3/8=0.530...

B. BCC lattice

Suppose the primitive vectors in real space are given by

      rprim  -1 1 1    1 -1 1    1 1 -1

(as for the FCC lattice, there is a scale invariance). Then, the reciprocal primitive vectors (in conventional cartesian coordinates) are (0 1/2 1/2), (1/2 0 1/2), and (1/2 1/2 0) and the coordinates of several special points with respect to primitive vectors in reciprocal space are

      H (-1/2 1/2 1/2)   (conventional cartesian coordinate 1/2 0 0)
      N ( 0   0   1/2)   (conventional cartesian coordinate 1/4 1/4 0)
      P ( 1/4 1/4 1/4)   (conventional cartesian coordinate 1/4 1/4 1/4)

So, if you want to specify a typical circuit, the following might do the work : Gamma-H-N-Gamma-P-N-P-H

      kptbounds  0 0 0  -1/2 1/2 1/2  0 0 1/2  0 0 0   1/4 1/4 1/4  0 0 1/2  1/4 1/4 1/4  -1/2 1/2 1/2

The lengths of segments (this information is useful to draw the band structure, with the correct relative scale between special points) can be found using the conventional cartesian coordinates : l(Gamma-H)=1/2=0.5 ; l(H-N)=sqrt(2)/4=0.354... ; l(N-Gamma)=sqrt(2)/4=0.354... ; l(Gamma-P)=sqrt(3)/4=0.433... ; l(P-N)=1/4=0.25 ; l(N-P)=1/4=0.25 ; l(P-H)=sqrt(3)/4=0.433...

C. Hexagonal lattices

Suppose the primitive vectors in real space are given by

      rprim  1 0 0    -1/2 sqrt(0.75) 0    0 0 1

The coordinates of several special points with respect to primitive vectors in reciprocal space are

      M (1/2 0 0) or (0 1/2 0) or (-1/2 1/2 0)
      L (1/2 0 1/2) or (0 1/2 1/2) or (-1/2 1/2 1/2)
      K (1/3 1/3 0) or (2/3 -1/3 0) or (-1/3 2/3 0)
      H (1/3 1/3 1/2) or (2/3 -1/3 1/2) or (-1/3 2/3 1/2)
      A (0 0 1/2)

So, if you want to specify a typical circuit, the following might do the work : K-Gamma-M-K-H-A-L-H-L-M-Gamma-A

      kptbounds  1/3 1/3 0  0 0 0  1/2 0 0  1/3 1/3 0  1/3 1/3 1/2  0 0 1/2  1/2 0 1/2  1/3 1/3 1/2  1/2 0 1/2  1/2 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 1/2

In order to find the lengths of segments (this information is useful to draw the band structure, with the correct relative scale between special points) one needs to know the a and c lattice parameters. Also, in what follows, we omit the 2*pi factor sometimes present in the definition of the reciprocal space vectors. The reciprocal vectors are (1/a 1/(sqrt(3)*a) 0) , (0 2/(sqrt(3)*a) 0), (0 0 1/c). The lengths of the above-mentioned segments can be computed as : l(K-Gamma)=2/(3*a)=0.666.../a ; l(Gamma-M)=1/(sqrt(3)*a)=0.577.../a ; l(M-K)=1/(3*a)=0.333.../a ; l(K-H)=1/(2*c)=0.5.../c ; l(H-A)=2/(3*a)=0.666.../a ; l(A-L)=1/(sqrt(3)*a)=0.577.../a ; l(L-H)=1/(3*a)=0.333.../a ; l(H-L)=1/(3*a)=0.333.../a ; l(L-M)=1/(2*c)=0.5.../c ; l(M-Gamma)=-1/(sqrt(3)*a)=0.577.../a ; l(Gamma-A)=1/(2*c)=0.5.../c

D. Rhombohedral lattices

Rhombohedral lattices are characterised by two parameters, the length of the primitive vectors, that we will denote a0, and the angle they form, alpha. These can be directly input of ABINIT, as acell and angdeg

This will generate the primitive vectors in real space , with

      acell a0 a0 a0    and      rprim  a 0 c    -a/2 a*sqrt(0.75) c    -a/2 -a*sqrt(0.75) c

with a^2+c^2=1, a^2=(1-cos(alpha))*2/3, c^2=(1+2*cos(alpha))*1/3, (a/c)^2=2*(1-cos(alpha))/(1+2*cos(alpha)) and also cos(alpha)=(1-(a/c)^2/2)/(1+(a/c)^2). Alternatively, these values of rprim might directly be the input of ABINIT (then, the balance of the scaling factor might be adjusted between acell and rprim).

Unlike for the simple cubic, FCC, BCC, hexagonal (and some other) Bravais lattice, the topology of the Brillouin zone will depend on the alpha (or a/c) value. We give below information concerning the case when cos(alpha) is positive, that is, (a/c)^2 lower than 2.

The coordinates of several special points with respect to primitive vectors in reciprocal space will not depend on the a/c ratio, but some others will depend on it. So, some care has to be exercised. Notations for the Brillouin Zone special points are the same as in Phys. Rev. B 41, 11827 (1990).

      L (1/2 0 0) or (0 1/2 0) or (0 0 1/2) (or with negative signs)
      T (1/2 1/2 1/2)
      X (1/2 1/2 0) or (1/2 0 1/2) or (0 1/2 1/2) (or with separate negative signs)
      W (5/6 - (a/c)^2/6 , 1/2 , 1/6 + (a/c)^2/6 ) = (1 0 -1)*(1-(a/c)^2/2)/3 + (1 1 1)/2
      U ( (1+(a/c)^2)/6 , (8-(a/c)^2)/12 , (8-(a/c)^2)/12 ) = (-1 1/2 1/2)*(1-(a/c)^2/2)/3 + (1 1 1)/2
      K (1 0 -1)*(1+(a/c)^2/4)/3

So, if you want to specify a typical circuit, the following might do the work (the representative points on lines of symmetry are indicated - there are sometimes more than one way to go from one point to another) : X-V-K-Sigma-Gamma-Lambda-T-Q-W-Y-L-sigma-Gamma-sigma-X . The suggestion is to sample this path with the following coordinates for the special points X, Gamma, T, L, Gamma, X :

      kptbounds  1/2 0 -1/2   0 0 0    1/2 1/2 1/2  1 1/2 0   1 0 0  1 1/2 1/2

In order to find the lengths of segments (this information is useful to draw the band structure, with the correct relative scale between special points) one needs to know the a and c lattice parameters. Also, in what follows, we omit the 2*pi factor sometimes present in the definition of the reciprocal space vectors. The reciprocal vectors are (2/(3*a) 0 1/(3*c)) , -(1/(3*a) 1/(sqrt(3)*a) 1/(3*c), -(1/(3*a) -1/(sqrt(3)*a) 1/(3*c) ). The lengths of the above-mentioned segments can be computed as : l(X-Gamma)=2/(sqrt(3)*a)=1.155.../a , with l(K-Gamma)=(1+(a/c)^2/4)*4/(3*sqrt(3)*a); l(Gamma-T)=1/(2*c) ; l(T-L)=2/(sqrt(3)*a)=1.155.../a , with l(T-W)=(1-(a/c)^2/2)*4/(3*sqrt(3)*a); l(L-Gamma)=sqrt(4/(a^2)+1/(c^2))/3 l(Gamma-X)=sqrt(1/(a^2)+1/(c^2))*2/3

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kptrlatt
Mnemonics: K - PoinTs grid : Real space LATTice
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: k-points.
Moderately used: [57/907] in abinit tests, [6/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorespfn:[rf1_1,rf1_2,rf1_3,rf1_4,rf1_5,rf1_6]}.
Variable type: integer(3,3)
Default is *0
The use of this variable forbids the use of specified(ngkpt)

This input variable is used only when kptopt is positive. It partially defines the k point grid. The other piece of information is contained in shiftk. kptrlatt cannot be used together with ngkpt.

The values kptrlatt(1:3,1), kptrlatt(1:3,2), kptrlatt(1:3,3) are the coordinates of three vectors in real space, expressed in the rprimd coordinate system (reduced coordinates). They defines a super-lattice in real space. The k point lattice is the reciprocal of this super-lattice, possibly shifted (see shiftk).

If neither ngkpt nor kptrlatt are defined, ABINIT will automatically generate a set of k point grids, and select the best combination of kptrlatt and shiftk that allows to reach a sufficient value of kptrlen. See this latter variable for a complete description of this procedure.

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kptrlen
Mnemonics: K - PoinTs grid : Real space LENgth
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: k-points.
Moderately used: [15/907] in abinit tests, [1/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoplugs:[w90_3]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 30.0

This input variable is used only when kptopt is positive and non-zero.

Preliminary explanation :
The k point lattice defined by ngkpt or kptrlatt is used to perform integrations of periodic quantities in the Brillouin Zone, like the density or the kinetic energy. One can relate the error made by replacing the continuous integral by a sum over k point lattice to the Fourier transform of the periodic quantity. Erroneous contributions will appear only for the vectors in real space that belong to the reciprocal of the k point lattice, except the origin. Moreover, the expected size of these contributions usually decreases exponentially with the distance. So, the length of the smallest of these real space vectors is a measure of the accuracy of the k point grid.

When either ngkpt or kptrlatt is defined, kptrlen is not used as an input variable, but the length of the smallest vector will be placed in this variable, and echoed in the output file.

On the other hand, when neither ngkpt nor kptrlatt are defined, ABINIT will automatically generate a large set of possible k point grids, and select among this set, the grids that give a length of smallest vector LARGER than kptrlen, and among these grids, the one that, when used with kptopt=1, reduces to the smallest number of k points. Note that this procedure can be time-consuming. It is worth doing it once for a given unit cell and set of symmetries, but not use this procedure by default. The best is then to set prtkpt=1, in order to get a detailed analysis of the set of grids.

If some layer of vacuum is detected in the unit cell (see the input variable vacuum), the computation of kptrlen will ignore the dimension related to the direction perpendicular to the vacuum layer, and generate a bi-dimensional k point grid. If the system is confined in a tube, a one-dimensional k point grid will be generated. For a cluster, this procedure will only generate the Gamma point.

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magcon_lambda
Mnemonics: MAGnetization CONstraint LAMBDA parameter
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: MagMom.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v7:[05]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.01

This variable gives the amplitude of the constraint imposed on the magnetization vectors on each atom (turned on with flag variable magconon). Typical values for lambda are 0.001 to 0.1. The SCF convergence will be difficult if lambda is too large. If lambda is too small, the constraint will not be very effective and it will give magnetization not close to the desired spinat target. In case of convergence problem, it can help to start with a small value of lambda and to increase it by reading the wavefunction obtained with a lower lambda value. See variable magconon for more details.

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magconon
Mnemonics: turn MAGnetization CONstraint ON
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: MagMom.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v7:[05]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Turns on the imposition of a Lagrangian constraint on the magnetization. For each atom, the magnetization is calculated in a sphere (radius ratsph) and a constraint is applied to bring it closer to the input values of spinat. The constraint can be either on the direction only (magconon 1) or on the full vector (magconon 2). The Lagrangian constraint has an amplitude magcon_lambda which should be neither too big (bad or impossible convergence) nor too small (no effect).

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mixalch
Mnemonics: MIXing coefficients for ALCHemical potentials
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: EVOLVING
Mentioned in topic: AtomTypes.
Rarely used: [8/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v3:[92,93,94,95,96,97],v5:[44],v6:[28]}.
Variable type: real(npspalch,ntypalch)
No default

Used for the generation of alchemical pseudoatoms, that is, when ntypalch is non-zero.

This array gives, for each type of alchemical pseudatom (there are ntypalch such pseudoatoms), the mixing coefficients of the basic npspalch pseudopotentials for alchemical use. For each type of alchemical pseudoatom, the sum of the mixing coefficients must equal 1.

The actual use of the mixing coefficients is defined by the input variable algalch. Note that the masses of the atoms, amu are also mixed according to the value of mixalch, by default.

Example 1. Suppose that we want to describe Ba(0.25) Sr(0.75) Ti O3.
The input variables related to the construction of the alchemical Ba(0.25) Sr(0.75) potential will be :

      npsp   4                 ! 4 pseudopotentials should be read.
      znucl  8 40 56 38        ! The nuclear charges. Note that the two
                               ! atoms whose pseudopotentials are to be mixed
                               ! are mentioned at the end of the series.
      ntypat  3                ! There will be three types of atoms.
      ntypalch   1             ! One pseudoatom will be alchemical.
                               ! Hence, there will be ntyppure=2 pure pseudoatoms,
                               ! with znucl 8 (O) and 40 (Ti), corresponding to
                               ! the two first pseudopotentials. Out of the
                               ! four pseudopotentials, npspalch=2 are left
                               ! for alchemical purposes, with znucl 56 (Ba)
                               ! and 38 (Sr).
      mixalch    0.25  0.75    ! For that unique pseudoatom to be
                               ! generated, here are the mixing coeeficients,
                               ! to be used to combine the Ba and Sr pseudopotentials.

Example 2. More complicated, and illustrate some minor drawback of the design of input variables. Suppose that one wants to generate Al(0.25)Ga(0.75) As(0.10)Sb(0.90).
The input variables will be :

      npsp  4                  ! 4 pseudopotentials should be read
      znucl  13 31 33 51       ! The atomic numbers. All pseudopotentials
                               ! will be used for some alchemical purpose
      ntypat  2                ! There will be two types of atoms.
      ntypalch   2             ! None of the atoms will be "pure".
                               ! Hence, there will be npspalch=4 pseudopotentials
                               !  to be used for alchemical purposes.
      mixalch    0.25  0.75 0.0  0.0   ! This array is a (4,2) array, arranged in the
                 0.0   0.0  0.1  0.9   ! usual Fortran order.

Minor drawback : one should not forget to fill mixalch with the needed zero's, in this later case.

In most cases, the use of mixalch will be as a static (non-evolving) variable. However, the possibility to have different values of mixalch for different images has been coded. A population of cells with different atomic characteristics can thus be considered, and can be made to evolve, e.g. with a genetic algorithm (not coded in v7.0.0 though). There is one restriction to this possibility : the value of ziontypat for the atoms that are mixed should be identical.

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natsph
Mnemonics: Number of ATomic SPHeres for the atom-projected density-of-states
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topics: printing, ElecBandStructure, ElecDOS.
Rarely used: [7/907] in abinit tests, [1/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {mpiio:[26],tutorial:[spin_3],v4:[38],v5:[19,20,40],v7:[04]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is natom
Only relevant if prtdos == 3 or pawfatbnd in [1,2]

natsph gives the number of atoms around which the sphere for atom-projected density-of-states will be built, in the prtdos=3 case. The indices of these atoms are given by iatsph. The radius of these spheres is given by ratsph.
If pawfatbnd=1 or 2, it gives the number of atoms around which atom-projected band structure will be built (the indices of these atoms are given by iatsph).

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natsph_extra
Mnemonics: Number of ATomic SPHeres for the l-projected density-of-states in EXTRA set
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: printing.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v7:[04]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0
Only relevant if prtdos == 3 or pawfatbnd in [1,2]

natsph_extra gives the number of extra spheres for which the angular-momentum-projected density-of-states will be built, in the prtdos=3 case. The radius of these spheres is given by ratsph_extra. This simulates the STS signal for an STM tip atom placed at the sphere position, according to the chemical nature of the tip (s- p- d- wave etc...).
If pawfatbnd=1 or 2, it gives the number of spheres in which l-projected band structure will be built.
The position of the spheres is given by the xredsph_extra variable.

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nbdbuf
Mnemonics: Number of BanDs for the BUFfer
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topics: SCFControl, BandOcc.
Moderately used: [160/907] in abinit tests, [24/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: integer
Default is 2*nspinor if optdriver==0 and iscf<0, 2*nspinor if optdriver==1 and 3<=occopt and occopt<= 8, 0 otherwise.

nbdbuf gives the number of bands, the highest in energy, that, among the nband bands, are to be considered as part of a buffer. This concept is useful in three situations: in non-self-consistent calculations, for the determination of the convergence tolerance ; for response functions of metals, to avoid instabilities, and also when finite electric fields or non-linear responses (with electric field perturbations) are considered. For the two first, the need of a buffer is a natural requirement of the problem, so that the default value is changed to 2 automatically, as explained in the following. The third case is only for implementation convenience.

In non-self-consistent GS calculations (iscf<0), the highest levels might be difficult to converge, if they are degenerate with another level, that does not belong to the set of bands treated. Then, it might take extremely long to reach tolwfr, although the other bands are already extremely well-converged, and the energy of the highest bands (whose residual are not yet good enough), is also rather well converged.
In response to this problem, for non-zero nbdbuf, the largest residual (residm), to be later compared with tolwfr, will be computed only in the set of non-buffer bands (this modification applies for non-self-consistent as well as self-consistent calculation, for GS as well as RF calculations).
For a GS calculation, with iscf<0, supposing nbdbuf is not initialized in the input file, then ABINIT will overcome the default nbdbuf value, and automatically set nbdbuf to 2.

In metallic RF calculations, in the conjugate gradient optimisation of first-order wavefunctions, there is an instability situation when the q wavevector of the perturbation brings the eigenenergy of the highest treated band at some k point higher than the lowest untreated eigenenergy at some k+q point. If one accepts a buffer of frozen states, this instability can be made to disappear. Frozen states receive automatically a residual value of -0.1d0.
For a RF calculation, with 3<=occopt<=7, supposing nbdbuf is not initialized in the input file, then ABINIT will overcome the default nbdbuf value, and automatically set nbdbuf to 2. This value might be too low in some cases.

Also, the number of active bands, in all cases, is imposed to be at least 1, irrespective of the value of nbdbuf.

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ndivk
Mnemonics: Number of DIVisions of K lines
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topics: k-points, ElecBandStructure.
Moderately used: [11/907] in abinit tests, [4/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[dmft_1,ucrpa_1],tutorial:[base3_5,fold2bloch_1]}.
Variable type: integer(abs(kptopt))
No default (Comment: Will be generated automatically from ndivsm if the latter is defined.)
Only relevant if kptopt < 0
The use of this variable forbids the use of specified(ndivsm)

Gives the number of divisions of each of the segments of the band structure, whose path is determined by kptopt and kptbounds. In this case, the absolute value of kptopt is the number of such segments.

For example, suppose that the number of segment is just one (kptopt=-1), a value ndivk=4 will lead to the computation of points with relative coordinates 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 , along the segment in consideration.

Now, suppose that there are two segments (kptopt=-2), with ndivk(1)=4 and ndivk(2)=2, the computation of the eigenvalues will be done at 7 points, 5 belonging to the first segment, with relative coordinates 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0, the last one being also the starting point of the next segment, for which two other points must be computed, with relative coordinates 0.5 and 1.0 .

It is easy to compute disconnected circuits (non-chained segments), by separating the circuits with the value ndivk=1 for the intermediate segment connecting the end of one circuit with the beginning of the next one (in which case no intermediate point is computed along this segment).

Alternatively it is possible to generate automatically the array ndivk by just specifying the number of divisions for the smallest segment. See the related input variable ndivsm.

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ndivsm
Mnemonics: Number of DIVisions for the SMallest segment
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topics: k-points, ElecBandStructure.
Rarely used: [4/907] in abinit tests, [1/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {libxc:[42],tutorespfn:[depes_4],v6:[14],v8:[04]}.
Variable type: integer
No default

This variable defines the number of divisions used to sample the smallest segment of the circuit employed in a band structure calculations (see related input variables kptopt and kptbounds). If ndivsm is given in the input file, there is no need to specify the number of divisions to be used for the other segments. Indeed ndivk is automatically calculated inside the code in order to generate a path where the number of divisions in each segment is proportional to the length of the segment itself. This option is activated only when kptopt is negative. In this case, the absolute value of kptopt is the number of such segments.

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ngfft
Mnemonics: Number of Grid points for Fast Fourier Transform
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Planewaves.
Moderately used: [56/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {}.
Variable type: integer(3)
Default is [0, 0, 0] (Comment: (automatic selection of optimal values))

gives the size of fast Fourier transform (fft) grid in three dimensions. Each number must be composed of the factors 2, 3, and 5 to be consistent with the radices available in our fft. If no ngfft is provided or if ngfft is set to 0 0 0, the code will automatically provide an optimal set of ngfft values, based on acell, rprim and ecut (see also boxcutmin for speed/accuracy concerns). This is the recommended procedure, of course.
The total number of FFT points is the product:
ngfft(1)*ngfft(2)*ngfft(3)=nfft .
When ngfft is made smaller than recommended values (e.g. by setting boxcutmin to a value smaller than 2.0 or by setting ngfft manually), the code runs faster and the equations in effect are approximated by a low pass Fourier filter. The code reports to standard output (unit 06) a parameter "boxcut" which is the smallest ratio of the fft box side to the G vector basis sphere diameter. When boxcut is less than 2 the Fourier filter approximation is being used. When boxcut gets less than about 1.5 the approximation may be too severe for realistic results and should be tested against larger values of ngfft. When boxcut is larger than 2, ngfft could be reduced without loss of accuracy. In this case, the small variations that are observed are solely due to the xc quadrature, that may be handled with intxc=1 to even reduce this effect.

Internally, ngfft is an array of size 18. The present components are stored in ngfft(1:3), while

- ngfft(4:6) contains slightly different (larger) values, modified for efficiency of the FFT
- ngfft(7) is fftalg
- ngfft(8) is fftcache
- ngfft(9) is set to 0 if the parallelization of the FFT is not activated, while it is set to 1 if it is activated.
- ngfft(10) is the number of processors of the FFT group
- ngfft(11) is the index of the processor in the group of processors
- ngfft(12) is n2proc, the number of x-z planes, in reciprocal space, treated by the processor
- ngfft(13) is n3proc, the number of x-y planes, in real space, treated by the processor
- ngfft(14) is mpi_comm_fft, the handle on the MPI communicator in charge of the FFT parallelisation
- ngfft(15:18) are not yet used

The number of points stored by this processor in real space is n1*n2*n3proc, while in reciprocal space, it is n1*n2proc*n3.
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ngqpt
Mnemonics: Number of Grid pointsfor Q PoinTs generation
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Rarely used: [6/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutorespfn:[depes_3,depes_4],v6:[78],v7:[50,51,83]}.
Variable type: integer(3)
Default is [0, 0, 0]
Only relevant if nqpt==1 and kptopt>=0
The use of this variable forbids the use of specified(qptrlatt)

At variance with ngkpt, note that only one q point is selected per dataset (see iqpt).
Its three positive components give the number of q points of Monkhorst-Pack grids (defined with respect to primitive axis in reciprocal space) in each of the three dimensions. The use of nshiftq and shiftq, allows to generate shifted grids, or Monkhorst-Pack grids defined with respect to conventional unit cells.

For more information on Monkhorst-Pack grids, see ngkpt.

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nline
Mnemonics: Number of LINE minimisations
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: SCFControl.
Moderately used: [257/907] in abinit tests, [10/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: integer
Default is 4

Gives maximum number of line minimizations allowed in preconditioned conjugate gradient minimization for each band. The Default, 4, is fine.
Special cases, with degeneracies or near-degeneracies of levels at the Fermi energy may require a larger value of nline (5 or 6 ?) Line minimizations will be stopped anyway when improvement gets small (governed by tolrde). With the input variable nnsclo, governs the convergence of the wavefunctions for fixed potential.
Note that nline=0 can be used to diagonalize the Hamiltonian matrix in the subspace spanned by the input wavefunctions.

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npsp
Mnemonics: Number of PSeudoPotentials
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: NO_MULTI
Mentioned in topics: AtomTypes, PseudosPAW.
Moderately used: [21/907] in abinit tests, [5/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[mbt_1,mbt_2,mbt_3,mbt_4,mbt_5]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is ntypat

Usually, the number of pseudopotentials to be read is equal to the number of type of atoms. However, in the case an alchemical mixing of pseudopotential is to be used, often the number of pseudopotentials to be read will not equal the number of types of atoms.

Alchemical pseudopotentials will be present when ntypalch is non-zero. See ntypalch to understand how to use alchemical potentials in ABINIT. The input variables (ntypalch, algalch,mixalch) are active, and generate alchemical potentials from the available pseudopotentials. Also, the inner variables (ntyppure,npspalch) become active. See these input variables, especially mixalch, to understand how to use alchemical potentials in ABINIT.

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npspalch
Mnemonics: Number of PSeudoPotentials that are "ALCHemical"
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INTERNAL_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: AtomTypes.
Variable type: integer
Default is npsp-ntyppure
Only relevant if ntypalch/=0

Gives the number of pseudopotentials that are used for alchemical mixing (when ntypalch is non-zero) :

npspalch=npsp-ntyppure

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nqpt
Mnemonics: Number of Q - POINTs
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Moderately used: [150/907] in abinit tests, [15/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Determines whether one q point must be read (See the variable qptn).
Can be either 0 or 1.
If 1 and used in ground-state calculation, a global shift of all the k-points is applied, to give calculation at k+q. In this case, the output wavefunction will be appended by _WFQ instead of _WFK (see the section 4 of the abinit help file) Also, if 1 and a RF calculation is done, defines the wavevector of the perturbation.

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nshiftq
Mnemonics: Number of SHIFTs for Q point grids
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Rarely used: [6/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutorespfn:[depes_3,depes_4],v6:[35,78],v7:[50,51]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 1

This parameter gives the number of shifted grids to be used concurrently to generate the full grid of q points. It can be used with primitive grids defined either from ngqpt or qptrlatt. The maximum allowed value of nshiftq is 8. The values of the shifts are given by shiftq.

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nspden
Mnemonics: Number of SPin-DENsity components
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: spinpolarisation.
Moderately used: [60/907] in abinit tests, [5/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorial:[dftu_1,dftu_2,dftu_3,dftu_4,spin_2]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is nsppol

If nspden=1, no spin-magnetization : the density matrix is diagonal, with same values spin-up and spin-down (compatible with nsppol=1 only, for both nspinor=1 or 2)

If nspden=2, scalar magnetization (the axis is arbitrarily fixed in the z direction) : the density matrix is diagonal, with different values for spin-up and spin-down (compatible with nspinor=1, either with nsppol=2 -general collinear magnetization- or nsppol=1 -antiferromagnetism)

If nspden=4, vector magnetization : the density matrix is full, with allowed x, y and z magnetization (useful only with nspinor=2 and nsppol=1, either because there is spin-orbit without time-reversal symmetry - and thus spontaneous magnetization, or with spin-orbit, if one allows for spontaneous non-collinear magnetism). Not yet available for response functions. Also note that, with nspden=4, time-reversal symmetry is not taken into account (at present ; this has to be checked) and thus kptopt has to be different from 1 or 2.

The default (nspden=nsppol) does not suit the case of vector magnetization.

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nspinor
Mnemonics: Number of SPINORial components of the wavefunctions
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: spinpolarisation.
Moderately used: [51/907] in abinit tests, [5/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorial:[dftu_1,dftu_2,dftu_3,dftu_4,spin_5]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 2 if pawspnorb==1, 1 otherwise.

If nspinor=1, usual case : scalar wavefunction (compatible with (nsppol=1, nspden=1) as well as (nsppol=2, nspden=2) )

If nspinor=2, the wavefunction is a spinor (compatible with nsppol=1, with nspden=1 or 4, but not with nsppol=2)

When nspinor is 2, the values of istwfk are automatically set to 1. Also, the number of bands, for each k-point, should be even.

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ntypalch
Mnemonics: Number of TYPe of atoms that are "ALCHemical"
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: AtomTypes.
Rarely used: [8/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v3:[92,93,94,95,96,97],v5:[44],v6:[28]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Used for the generation of alchemical pseudopotentials : when ntypalch is non-zero, alchemical mixing will be used.

Among the ntypat types of atoms, the last ntypalch will be "alchemical" pseudoatoms, while only the first ntyppure will be uniquely associated with a pseudopotential (the ntyppure first of these, actually). The ntypalch types of alchemical pseudoatoms are to be made from the remaining npspalch pseudopotentials.

In this case, the input variables algalch,mixalch are active, and generate alchemical potentials from the available pseudopotentials. See these input variables, especially mixalch, to understand how to use alchemical potentials in ABINIT.

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ntyppure
Mnemonics: Number of TYPe of atoms that are "PURe"
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INTERNAL_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: AtomTypes.
Variable type: integer
Default is ntypat-ntypalch

Gives the number of type of atoms that are "pure" when alchemical mixing is used (ntypalch /= 0) :

ntyppure=ntypat-ntypalch

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nucdipmom
Mnemonics: NUClear DIPole MOMents
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: MagField.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v7:[32]}.
Variable type: real(3,natom)
Default is 0.0
Only relevant if usepaw = 1; pawcpxocc = 2; kptopt > 2

Places an array of nuclear magnetic dipole moments on the atomic positions, useful for computing the magnetization in the presence of nuclear dipoles and thus the chemical shielding by the converse method. The presence of these dipoles breaks time reversal symmetry and lowers the overall spatial symmetry.

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nwfshist
Mnemonics: Number of WaveFunctionS HISTory
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Wavelets.
Moderately used: [12/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[gswvl_01,gswvl_02]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

In the wavelet basis set, the ground state is found by direct minimisation. The algorithm used can be either the steepest descent or the DIIS (Direct Inversion of Iteration Space). When nwfshist = 0, the steepest descent is used ( i.e. there is no history storage of the previous iterations). If nwfshist is strictly positive, a DIIS is used. A typical value is 6. Using a DIIS increases the memory required by the program since N previous wavefunctions are stored during the electronic minimisation.

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occ
Mnemonics: OCCupation numbers
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: EVOLVING
Mentioned in topic: BandOcc.
Moderately used: [119/907] in abinit tests, [6/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorial:[base1_5,base2_1,base2_2,base2_3,base2_4,base2_5]}.
Variable type: real(nband)
Default is *0

Gives occupation numbers for all bands in the problem. Needed if occopt==0 or occopt==2. Ignored otherwise. Also ignored when iscf=-2.
Typical band occupancy is either 2 or 0, but can be 1 for half-occupied band or other choices in special circumstances.
If occopt is not 2, then the occupancies must be the same for each k point.
If occopt=2, then the band occupancies must be provided explicitly for each band, EACH k POINT, and EACH SPIN-POLARIZATION, in an array which runs over all bands, k points, and spin-polarizations.
The order of entries in the array would correspond to all bands at the first k point (spin up), then all bands at the second k point (spin up), etc, then all k-points spin down.
The total number of array elements which must be provided is
( nband(1)+nband(2)+...+ nband(nkpt) ) * nsppol .
The occupation numbers evolve only for metallic occupations, that is, occopt ≥ 3 .

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optdriver
Mnemonics: OPTions for the DRIVER
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topics: nonlinear, GWls, ElPhonInt, GW, BSE, DFPT, Susceptibility, SelfEnergy.
Moderately used: [103/907] in abinit tests, [22/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

For each dataset, choose the task to be done, at the level of the "driver" routine.

The choice is among :
optdriver=0 : ground-state calculation (GS), routine "gstate"
optdriver=1 : response-function calculation (RF), routine "respfn"
optdriver=2 : susceptibility calculation (SUS), routine "suscep"
optdriver=3 : susceptibility and dielectric matrix calculation (SCR), routine "screening"
(see the input variables ecutwfn, ecuteps, ppmfrq, getwfk, as well as nbandkss and nband)
optdriver=4 : self-energy calculation (SIG), routine "sigma"
optdriver=5 : non-linear response functions (NONLINEAR), using the 2n+1 theorem, routine "nonlinear"
optdriver =7: electron-phonon coupling (EPH)
optdriver =66: GW using Lanczos-Sternheimer, see input variables whose name start with gwls_* .
optdriver=99 : Bethe-Salpeter calculation (BSE), routine "bethe_salpeter"

If one of rfphon, rfddk, rfelfd, or rfstrs is non-zero, while optdriver is not defined in the input file, ABINIT will set optdriver to 1 automatically. These input variables (rfphon, rfddk, rfelfd, and rfstrs) must be zero if optdriver is not set to 1.

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optstress
Mnemonics: OPTion for the computation of STRESS
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: ForcesStresses.
Moderately used: [42/907] in abinit tests, [9/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[gswvl_01,gswvl_02],tutorial:[positron_1,positron_2,positron_3,positron_4,positron_5,positron_6,positron_7]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 1

If set to 1, the computation of stresses is done, in the SCF case (under the conditions iscf > 0 , prtstm==0 , positron==0, and either nstep >0 , or usepaw==0 or irdwfk==1).
Otherwise, to save CPU time, if no optimization of the cell is required, one can skip the computation of stresses. The CPU time saving might be interesting for some PAW calculations.

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posdoppler
Mnemonics: POSitron computation of DOPPLER broadening
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: positron.
Rarely used: [3/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutorial:[positron_5,positron_7],v7:[35]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Relevant only when positron<>0.
This input parameter activates the calculation of the Doppler broadening of the electron-positron annihilation radiation.
An output file containing the momentum distributions of annihilating electron-positron pairs is created.
Such a computation needs a core wave-function file (per atom type) to be provided. This core WF file should be named '<psp_file_name>.corewf' (where <pspfile_name> is the name of the pseudo-potential (or PAW) file) or 'corewf.abinit<ityp>' (where <ityp> is the index of the atom type). Core WF files can be obtained with the atompaw tool by the use of 'prtcorewf' keyword.

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positron
Mnemonics: POSITRON calculation
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: positron.
Moderately used: [10/907] in abinit tests, [7/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorial:[positron_1,positron_2,positron_3,positron_4,positron_5,positron_6,positron_7]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

This input parameter can be positive or negative.
Negative values for positron are only relevant for PAW calculations.
Electron-positron correlation functional is defined by ixcpositron.
Other relevant input parameter: posocc (occupation number for the positron).
Positive values for positron:
For positron=1 or 2, will perform the calculation of positron lifetime (and annihilation rate).

- positron=1:
  Starting from a previous electronic GS density (with positron=0), a positronic ground-state calculation is performed, considering that the electrons are not perturbed by the presence of the positron.
  This is almost correct for a positron in a perfect bulk material. But this approximation fails when defects exist in the material (for instance: the positron might be trapped by a vacancy).
  The electronic density will be automatically read from a _DEN file (with or without irdden keyword).
  At the end of the SCF cycle, the positron lifetime and annihilation rate are printed out.
  Additional information for the use of pseudopotentials:
  - PAW datasets: nothing to do; simply use usual electronic PAW datasets
  - Norm-conserving pseudopotentials: One has to use specific pseudopotentials for the positron calculation. They must be of the FHI type (pspcod=6), and must contain at their end, the all-electrons core density generated with FHI98PP. They must have lmax=lloc=0 (check that this works for the electronic GS !! No ghost, etc ...). Otherwise, their are similar to an usual FHI pseudopotential.

- positron=2:
  Starting from a previous positronic GS density (with positron=1), an electronic ground-state calculation is performed, keeping the positronic density constant.
  The positronic density will be automatically read from a _DEN file (with or without getden/irdden keyword).
  At the end of the SCF cycle, the positron lifetime and annihilation rate are printed out.
  Additional information for the use of pseudopotentials:
  - PAW datasets: nothing to do; simply use usual electronic PAW datasets
  - Norm-conserving pseudopotentials: One has to use specific pseudopotentials for the electron calculation. They must be of the FHI type (pspcod=6), and must contain at their end, the all-electrons core density generated with FHI98PP.
- Typical use:
  The calculation is done in several steps:
  The first one is a normal GS calculation for the electrons, with positron=0. The only specific thing to do is to set prtden=1 (this is the defaut for ABINIT v6.x+). This will create the associated _DEN file which will be used as input file for the positronic GS calculation.
  The second step is the GS calculation of the positron and subsequently its lifetime, with positron=1. One has to define also ixcpositron.
  Then, it is possible to perform an additional step, computing the GS electronic density in presence of the positron, with positron=2.
  and so on...
  This procedure can be automated (for PAW only) by the use of a negative value for positron.
  At the end, a converged value of the positron lifetime (decomposed in several contributions) is printed.
  See also posdoppler keyword for the calculation of Doppler broadening.
  Negative values for positron:
  For positron<0, will perform an automatic calculation of electrons and positron densities in the two-component DFT context; then will compute positron lifetime (and annihilation rate).
  - positron=-1:
    Starting from scratch, will first perform an usual electronic ground-state calculation until convergence (controlled by the use of one of the tolerance keywords).
    Then will perform a positronic ground state calculation in presence of the electrons and ions; then an electronic ground state calculation in presence of the positron and the ions...
    and so on... until the total energy is converged.
    The convergence of the total energy of the ions+electrons+positron system is controlled by the use of the postoldfe, postoldff and posnstep input keywords.
    With positron=-1, at the beginning of each new electronic/positronic step, the wave functions are unknown.
  - positron=-10:
    Same as positron=-1 except that the electronic/positronic wave functions are stored in memory.
    Consequently, the total number of iterations to reach the convergence (diff_Etotal<postoldfe or diff_Forces<postoldff) is smaller.
    But, this can increase the total amount of memory needed by the code.
  - positron=-2:
    Same as positron=-1 except that the two-component DFT cycle is forced to stop at the end of an electronic step.
  - positron=-20:
    Same as positron=-10 except that the two-component DFT cycle is forced to stop at the end of an electronic step.
  Advice for use:
  There are two typical cases which have to be differently treated:
  - A positron in a perfect bulk system:
    In that case, the positron is delocalized in the whole crystal. Its density is almost zero.
    Thus, the "zero density positron limit" has to be used. ixcpositron has to be choosen accordingly.
    In order to have the zero density positron limit it is adviced to follow these points:
    1- Put a small positronic charge (by setting a posocc to a small value) OR use a big supercell.
    2- Use only k=gamma wave vector for the positronic calculation.
    3- Use the manual procedure in 2 steps: first positron=0 and then positron=1; avoid the positron=2 step and the automatic procedure (positron<0).
    In principle, the positron lifetime should converge with the value of posocc or the size of the supercell.
  - A positron trapped in a default (vacancy...):
    In that case, the positron is localized in the default. Its density can be localized in the simulation cell (provided that the cell is sufficiently large) and influences the electronic density.
    So, it is advised to use the automatic procedure (positron<0) or the manual procedure with several positron=0,1,2,1,... steps.
    K-points can be used as in usual electronic calculations.
    Also note that it is possible to use forces and stresses to perform structural minimization.
  References:
  [1] J. Arponen and E. Pajanne, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 121, 343 (1979).
  [2] Boronski and R.M. Nieminen, Phys. Rev. B 34, 3820 (1986).
  [3] P.A. Sterne and J.H. Kaiser, Phys. Rev. B 43, 13892 (1991).
  [4] M.J. Puska, A.P. Seitsonen and R.M. Nieminen, Phys. Rev. B 52, 10947 (1994).
  [5] B. Barbiellini, M.J. Puska, T. Torsti and R.M.Nieminen, Phys. Rev. B 51, 7341 (1994)
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posnstep
Mnemonics: POSitron calculation: max. Number of STEPs for the two-component DFT
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: positron.
Rarely used: [6/907] in abinit tests, [4/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutorial:[positron_3,positron_4,positron_5,positron_7],v5:[07],v7:[35]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 50

Relevant only when positron<0.
Sets the maximum number of electronic/positronic iterations that, when reached, will cause the two-component DFT SCF cycle to stop.
The code will first compute the electronic ground-state, then the positronic ground state in the electronic density, then the electronic ground-state in the positronic density, ...
...until diff_Etotal<postoldfe or diff_Forces<postoldff or the number of electronic/positronic steps is posnstep.

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posocc
Mnemonics: POSitron calculation: OCCupation number for the positron
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: positron.
Rarely used: [9/907] in abinit tests, [7/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutorial:[positron_1,positron_2,positron_3,positron_4,positron_5,positron_6,positron_7],v5:[07],v7:[35]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 1

Relevant only when positron/=0.
Sets the occupation number for the positron. Has to be <=1.
Changing posocc is only useful for bulk calculation when one wants to perform lifetime computations using a small simulation cell (can avoid the use of a supercell). It simulates the dispersion of the positron in the whole crystal.

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postoldfe
Mnemonics: POSitron calculation: TOLerance on the DiFference of total Energy
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: ENERGY
Mentioned in topic: positron.
Rarely used: [4/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutorial:[positron_3,positron_4],v5:[07],v7:[35]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 1e-06 if postoldff=0, 0.0 otherwise.

Relevant only when positron<0.
Sets a tolerance for absolute difference of total energy (of ions+electrons+positron system) that, when reached, will cause the SCF cycle to stop before the number of steps is nstep or the number of electronic/positronic steps is posnstep.
Can be specified in Ha (the default), Ry, eV or Kelvin, since toldfe has the 'ENERGY' characteristics.
Only one and only one of postoldfe or postoldff can be set.

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postoldff
Mnemonics: POSitron calculation: TOLerance on the DiFference of Forces
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: positron.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v5:[07]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0

Relevant only when positron<0.
Sets a tolerance for absolute difference of maximum force acting on ions (due to ions+electrons+positron system) that, when reached, will cause the SCF cycle to stop before the number of SCF steps is nstep or the number of electronic/positronic steps is posnstep.
Only one and only one of postoldfe or postoldff can be set.

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prtdensph
Mnemonics: PRinT integral of DENsity inside atomic SPHeres
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: printing.
Rarely used: [6/907] in abinit tests, [4/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutoparal:[string_01,string_02,string_03,string_04],v5:[20,37]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 1 otherwise.

When this flag is activated, values of integral(s) of total density inside sphere(s) around each atom are printed in output file (for each spin component). Spheres around atoms are defined by a radius given by ratsph keyword.
Note: integral of density inside a sphere around an atom can be used to determine a rough approximation of the local magnetic moment; this is particularly useful for antiferromagnetic systems.
The algorithm to compute this integral is particularly primitive : the points on the FFT grids, belonging to the interior of the sphere are determined, and the value of the functions on these points are summed, taking into account a fixed volume attributed to each point. In particular, the integral as a function of the radius will be a constant, except when a new point enters the sphere, in which case a sudden jump occurs. However, since the purpose of this output is to get a rough idea of the repartition of the density, this is not a real problem. If you are interested in a more accurate estimation of the density within a sphere, you should use the cut3d postprocessor.

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prtebands
Mnemonics: PRinT Electron BANDS
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: printing.
Rarely used: [3/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {libxc:[42],v7:[88],v8:[04]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0 if nimage > 1, 1 otherwise.

This option activates the output of the electron eigenvalues. Possible values:

- 0 Disable the output of the band energies.
- 1 Write eigenvalues in xmgrace format. A file with extension `EBANDS.agr` is produced at the end of the run. Use `xmgrace file_EBANDS.agr` to visualize the band energies
- 2 Write eigenvalues in gnuplot format. The code produces a `EBANDS.dat` file with the eigenvalues and a `EBANDS.gnuplot` script. Use `gnuplot file_EBANDS.gnuplot` to visualize the band energies.

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qpt
Mnemonics: Q PoinT
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Moderately used: [140/907] in abinit tests, [13/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: real(3)
Default is [0, 0, 0]

Only used if nqpt=1.

Combined with qptnrm, define the q vector qptn(1:3) in the case qptopt=0.

This input variable is not internal (qptn(1:3) is used instead), but is used to echo the value of qptn(1:3), with renormalisation factor one.

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qptnrm
Mnemonics: Q PoinTs NoRMalization
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Rarely used: [2/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v3:[85,86]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 1.0

Only used if nqpt=1 and qptopt=0

Provides re-normalization of qpt. Must be positive, non-zero. The actual q vector (renormalized) is qptn(1:3)= qpt(1:3)/qptnrm.

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qptopt
Mnemonics: QPoinTs OPTion
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Moderately used: [10/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutorespfn:[depes_3,depes_4]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

Only used if nqpt=1.

Controls the set up to generate the Q point qptn(1:3) to be used for the specific dataset, either as a shift of k-point grid in ground-state calculations, or as a stand-alone phonon wavevector.

There are two basic techniques to generate the Q point : either by specifying it directly, possibly with a renormalisation factor (qptopt=0), or extracting it from a grid a Q points (qptopt=1 to 4), using the index iqpt. At variance with the similar generation of k points, only ONE q point can be used per dataset.

With qptopt=1 to 4, rely on ngqpt or qptrlatt, as well as on nshiftq and shiftq to set up a q point grid, from which the q point with number iqpt will be selected. The values qptopt=1 to 4 differ by the treatment of symmetries. Note that the symmetries are recomputed starting from the values of rprimd xred and spinat. So, the explicit value of symrel are not used. This is to allow doing calculations with nsym=1, sometimes needed for T-dependent electronic structure, still decreasing the number of q points in the case qptopt=1 or qptopt=3.

- 0=> read directly qpt, and its (eventual) renormalisation factor qptnrm.
- 1=> Take fully into account the symmetry to generate the grid of q points in the Irreducible Brillouin Zone only.
  (This is the usual mode for RF calculations)
- 2=> Take into account only the time-reversal symmetry : q points will be generated in half the Brillouin zone.
- 3=> Do not take into account any symmetry : q points will be generated in the full Brillouin zone.
- 4=> Take into account all the symmetries EXCEPT the time-reversal symmetry to generate the k points in the Irreducible Brillouin Zone.

In the case of a grid of q points, the auxiliary variables kptrlen, ngkpt and prtkpt might help you to select the optimal grid, similarly to the case of the K point grid.
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qptrlatt
Mnemonics: Q - PoinTs grid : Real space LATTice
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v6:[35]}.
Variable type: integer(3,3)
Default is *0
The use of this variable forbids the use of specified(ngqpt)

This input variable is used only when qptopt is positive. It partially defines the q point grid. The other piece of information is contained in shiftq. qptrlatt cannot be used together with ngqpt.

The values qptrlatt(1:3,1), qptrlatt(1:3,2), qptrlatt(1:3,3) are the coordinates of three vectors in real space, expressed in the rprimd coordinate system (reduced coordinates). They defines a super-lattice in real space. The k point lattice is the reciprocal of this super-lattice, possibly shifted (see shiftq).

If neither ngqpt nor qptrlatt are defined, ABINIT will automatically generate a set of k point grids, and select the best combination of qptrlatt and shiftq that allows to reach a sufficient value of kptrlen. See this latter variable for a complete description of this procedure.

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ratsph
Mnemonics: Radii of the ATomic SPHere(s)
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topics: printing, MagMom, ElecBandStructure, ElecDOS.
Rarely used: [5/907] in abinit tests, [1/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutorial:[spin_3],v4:[35,38],v5:[20,37]}.
Variable type: real(ntypat)
Default is ['AUTO_FROM_PSP'] if usepaw==1, 2.0 otherwise.

Relevant only when prtdos=3 or prtdensph=1.
When prtdos=3:
Provides the radius of the spheres around the natsph atoms of indices iatsph, in which the local DOS and its angular-momentum projections will be analysed. The choice of this radius is quite arbitrary. In a plane-wave basis set, there is no natural definition of an atomic sphere. However, it might be wise to use the following well-defined and physically motivated procedure (in version 4.2, this procedure is NOT implemented, unfortunately) : from the Bader analysis, one can define the radius of the sphere that contains the same charge as the Bader volume. This "Equivalent Bader charge atomic radius" might then be used to perform the present analysis. See the aim help file for more explanations. Another physically motivated choice would be to rely on another charge partitioning, like the Hirshfeld one (see the cut3d utility). The advantage of using charge partitioning schemes comes from the fact that the sum of atomic DOS, for all angular momenta and atoms, integrated on the energy range of the occupied states, gives back the total charge. If this is not an issue, one could rely on the half of the nearest-neighbour distances, or any scheme that allows to define an atomic radius. Note that the choice of this radius is however critical for the balance between the s, p and d components. Indeed, the integrated charge within a given radius, behave as a different power of the radius, for the different channels s, p, d. At the limit of very small radii, the s component dominates the charge contained in the sphere ...
When prtdensph=1:
Provides the radius of the spheres around (all) atoms in which the total charge density will be integrated.
In case of PAW, ratsph radius has to be greater or equal to PAW radius of considered atom type (which is read from the PAW dataset file; see rc_sph or r_paw).

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ratsph_extra
Mnemonics: Radii of the ATomic SPHere(s) in the EXTRA set
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: LENGTH
Mentioned in topic: printing.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v7:[04]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 2.0 Bohr

Radius for extra spheres the DOS is projected into. See natsph_extra and xredsph_extra for the number and positions of the spheres.

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scphon_supercell
Mnemonics: Self Consistent PHONon SUPERCELL
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: DFPT.
Rarely used: [0/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests.
Variable type: integer(3)
Default is [1, 1, 1]

Give extent, in number of primitive unit cells, of the supercell being used for a self-consistent phonon calculation. Presumes the phonon frequencies and eigenvectors have been calculated in the original primitive unit cell, on a grid of q-points which corresponds to the supercell in the present calculation. TO BE IMPROVED : should contain a tutorial on how to do self-consistent phonon calculations, David Waroquiers 090831

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scphon_temp
Mnemonics: Self Consistent PHONon TEMPerature
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: ENERGY
Mentioned in topic: DFPT.
Rarely used: [0/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0

Temperature which is imposed on phonon distribution, in the self-consistent scheme of Souvatzis et al. PRL 100 , 095901. Determines the extent of the finite displacements used, and consequent anharmonic effects. Experimental.

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shiftq
Mnemonics: SHIFT for Q points
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Rarely used: [6/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {tutorespfn:[depes_3,depes_4],v6:[35,78],v7:[50,51]}.
Variable type: real(3,nshiftq)
Default is None if nshiftq>1, [0.5, 0.5, 0.5] otherwise.

It is used only when qptopt>=0, and must be defined if nshiftq is larger than 1.
shiftq(1:3,1:nshiftq) defines nshiftq shifts of the homogeneous grid of q points based on ngqpt or qptrlatt.

See shiftk for more information on the definition, use, and suitable values for these shifts.

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slabwsrad
Mnemonics: jellium SLAB Wigner-Seitz RADius
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: LENGTH
Mentioned in topic: Artificial.
Rarely used: [4/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v5:[56,57,58,59]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0

Fix the bulk-mean positive charge density nbulk of a jellium slab (if the latter is employed, e.g. jellslab ≠ 0). Often called "rs" [see for example N. D. Lang and W. Kohn PRB 1, 4555 (1970)], slabwsrad is the radius of a sphere which has the same volume as the average volume per particle in a homogeneous electron gas with density nbulk, so:

      1/nbulk = 4/3 Pi * slabwsrad3

For example, the bulk aluminum fcc lattice constant is a=4.0495 Angstroms (webelements.com), each cubic centered cell includes 4 Al atoms and each atom has 3 valence electrons, so the average volume per electron is a3/12=37.34 Bohr3 which has to be equal to 4/3 Pi*rs3. Consequently Al has approximately rs =2.07 Bohr, while for example magnesium has rs =2.65 Bohr, sodium 3.99 Bohr.
By default, given in Bohr atomic units (1 Bohr=0.5291772108 Angstroms).
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slabzbeg
Mnemonics: jellium SLAB BEGinning edge along the Z direction
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Artificial.
Rarely used: [4/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v5:[56,57,58,59]}.
Variable type: real
Default is [0.0, 0.0]

Define the edges of the jellium slab (if used, so if jellslab ≠ 0) along z, namely the slab starts at a point along z which is expressed in Bohr by slabzbeg and it ends at a point expressed in Bohr by slabzend. The z direction is parallel to the third crystal primitive lattice vector which has to be orthogonal to the other ones, so the length of the cell along z is rprimd(3,3). In addition slabzbeg and slabzend have to be such that:

      0 ≤ slabzbeg < slabzend ≤ rprimd(3,3)

Together with slabwsrad they define the jellium positive charge density distribution n+(x,y,z) in this way:

      n+(x,y,z) = nbulk     if slabzbeg ≤ z ≤ slabzend
                = 0        otherwise,

so the positive charge density is invariant along the xy plane as well as the electrostatic potential generated by it.
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slabzend
Mnemonics: jellium SLAB ENDing edge along the Z direction
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Artificial.
Rarely used: [4/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v5:[56,57,58,59]}.
Variable type: real
Default is [0.0, 0.0]

Define the edges of the jellium slab (if used, so if jellslab ≠ 0) along z, namely the slab starts at a point along z which is expressed in Bohr by slabzbeg and it ends at a point expressed in Bohr by slabzend. The z direction is parallel to the third crystal primitive lattice vector which has to be orthogonal to the other ones, so the length of the cell along z is rprimd(3,3). In addition slabzbeg and slabzend have to be such that:

      0 ≤ slabzbeg < slabzend ≤ rprimd(3,3)

Together with slabwsrad they define the jellium positive charge density distribution n+(x,y,z) in this way:

      n+(x,y,z) = nbulk     if slabzbeg ≤ z ≤ slabzend
                = 0        otherwise,

so the positive charge density is invariant along the xy plane as well as the electrostatic potential generated by it.
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so_psp
Mnemonics: Spin-Orbit treatment for each PSeudoPotential
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: spinpolarisation.
Moderately used: [24/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {}.
Variable type: integer(npsp)
Default is npsp*1
Only relevant if nspinor==2 and usepaw==0

For each type of atom (each pseudopotential), specify the treatment of spin-orbit interaction (if nspinor==2 and Norm-conserving pseudopotentials usepaw==0)
If 0 : no spin-orbit interaction, even if nspinor=2
If 1 : treat spin-orbit as specified in the pseudopotential file.
If 2 : treat spin-orbit in the HGH form (usual form, although not allowed for all pseudopotentials)
If 3 : treat spin-orbit in the HFN form (Hemstreet-Fong-Nelson) (actually, not implemented ...).

For typical usage, the default value is OK. If the spin-orbit needs to be turned off for one atom, 0 might be relevant. Note however, that the code will stop if nspinor=2 is used and one of the pseudopotential does not contain the information about the spin-orbit interaction (this is the case for some old pseudopotentials). Indeed, for spinorial calculations, turning off the spin-orbit interaction is unphysical, and also does not save CPU time ... It should only be done for test purposes

Note that if nspinor==1, the spin-orbit cannot be treated anyhow, so the value of so_psp is irrelevant. In case usepaw=1, please refer to pawspnorb.

Prior to v5.4, the input variable so_typat was used, in place of so_psp. Because the values 0 and 1 have been switched between so_psp and so_typat, it was dangerous to continue to allow the use of so_typat.

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spinat
Mnemonics: SPIN for AToms
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topics: spinpolarisation, crystal, MagMom.
Moderately used: [103/907] in abinit tests, [17/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: real[3, 'natrd'] if natrd<natom, [3, 'natom'] otherwise.
Default is 0.0

Gives the initial electronic spin-magnetization for each atom, in unit of h-bar/2.

Note that if nspden=2, the z-component must be given for each atom, in triplets (0 0 z-component).
For example, the electron of an hydrogen atom can be spin up (0 0 1.0) or spin down (0 0 -1.0).

This value is only used to create the first exchange and correlation potential, and is not used anymore afterwards.
It is not checked against the initial occupation numbers occ for each spin channel.
It is meant to give an easy way to break the spin symmetry, and to allow to find stable local spin fluctuations, for example : antiferromagnetism, or the spontaneous spatial spin separation of elongated H2 molecule.

- If the atom manipulator is used, spinat will be related to the preprocessed set of atoms, generated by the atom manipulator. The user must thus foresee the effect of this atom manipulator (see objarf).
- If the atom manipulator is not used, and the symmetries are not specified by the user (nsym=0), spinat will be used, if present, to determine the anti-ferromagnetic characteristics of the symmetry operations, see symafm.
  In case of collinear antiferromagnetism (nsppol=1, nspinor=1, nspden=2), these symmetries are used to symmetrize the density.
  In case of non-collinear magnetism (nsppol=1, nspinor=1, nspden=4), they are also used to symmetrize the density. In the latter case, this strongly constrains the magnetization (imposing its direction). If the user want to let all degrees of freedom of the magnetization evolve, it is then recommended to put nsym=1.
- If the symmetries are specified, and the irreducible set of atoms is specified, the anti-ferromagnetic characteristics of the symmetry operations symafm will be used to generate spinat for all the non-irreducible atoms.
- In the case of PAW+U calculations using the dmatpawu initial occupation matrix, and if nspden=4, spinat is also used to determine the direction of the integrated magnetization matrix.
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stmbias
Mnemonics: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy BIAS voltage
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: ENERGY
Mentioned in topic: STM.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v4:[46]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0

Gives, in Hartree, the bias of the STM tip, with respect to the sample, in order to generate the STM density map.
Used with positive iscf, occopt=7 (metallic, gaussian), nstep=1 , and positive prtstm, this value is used to generate a charge density map from electrons close to the Fermi energy, in a (positive or negative) energy range. Positive stmbias will lead to the inclusion of occupied (valence) states only, while negative stmbias will lead to the inclusion of unoccupied (conduction) states only.
Can be specified in Ha (the default), Ry, eV or Kelvin, since stmbias has the 'ENERGY' characteristics (0.001 Ha = 27.2113845 meV = 315.773 Kelvin). With occopt=7, one has also to specify an independent broadening tsmear.

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symafm
Mnemonics: SYMmetries, Anti-FerroMagnetic characteristics
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: spinpolarisation.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v3:[20]}.
Variable type: integer(nsym)
Default is nsym*1

In case the material is magnetic (well, this is only interesting in the case of antiferromagnetism, collinear or not), additional symmetries might appear, that change the sign of the magnetization. They have been introduced by Shubnikov (1951). They can be used by ABINIT to decrease the CPU time, by using them to decrease the number of k-points.
symafm should be set to +1 for all the usual symmetry operations, that do not change the sign of the magnetization, while it should be set to -1 for the magnetization-changing symmetries.
If the symmetry operations are not specified by the user in the input file, that is, if nsym=0, then ABINIT will use the values of spinat to determine the content of symafm.
The symmetries found as "antiferro magnetic" (symafm=-1) are used to symmetrize density and magnetization in the following cases:
- antiferromagnetism (nsppol=1, nspinor=1, nspden=2)
- non-collinear magnetism (nsppol=1, nspinor=1, nspden=4)
In other cases they are not used.

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timopt
Mnemonics: TIMing OPTion
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: NO_MULTI
Mentioned in topic: Control.
Moderately used: [52/907] in abinit tests, [14/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: integer
Default is 1 if SEQUENTIAL, 0 otherwise.

This input variable allows to modulate the use of the timing routines.

If 0 => as soon as possible, suppresses all calls to timing routines
If 1 => usual timing behaviour, with short analysis, appropriate for sequential execution
If 2 => close to timopt=1, except that the analysis routine does not time the timer, appropriate for parallel execution.
If 3 => close to timopt=1, except that the different parts of the lobpcg routine are timed in detail.
If 4 => close to timopt=1, except that the different parts of the lobpcg routine are timed in detail. A different splitting of lobpcg than for timopt=-3 is provided.
If -1 => a full analysis of timings is delivered
If -2 => a full analysis of timings is delivered, except timing the timer
If -3 => a full analysis of timings is delivered, including the detailed timing of the different parts of the lobpcg routine. (this takes time, and is discouraged for too small runs - the timing would take more time than the run !). The timer is timed.
If -4 => a full analysis of timings is delivered, including the detailed timing of the different parts of the lobpcg routine. A different splitting of lobpcg than for timopt=-3 is provided (this takes time, and is discouraged for too small runs - the timing would take more time than the run !). The timer is timed. The sum of the independent parts is closer to 100% than for timopt=-3.

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tl_nprccg
Mnemonics: TaiL maximum Number of PReConditionner Conjugate Gradient iterations
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Wavelets.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {bigdft:[09]}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 30

This variable is similar to wvl_nprccg but for the preconditionner iterations during the tail corrections (see tl_radius ). TO BE IMPROVED : all tl_* and wvl_* variables should contain a link to a tutorial, David Waroquiers 090831.

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tl_radius
Mnemonics: TaiL expansion RADIUS
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: LENGTH
Mentioned in topic: Wavelets.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {bigdft:[09]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0

In the wavelet computation case, the linkage between the grid and the free boundary conditions can be smoothed using an exponential decay. This means a correction on the energy at the end on each wavefunction optimisation run. If this parameter is set to zero, no tail computation is done. On the contrary, put it to a positive value makes the tail correction available. The value correspond to a length in atomic units being the spacial expansion with the exponential decay around the grid.

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tphysel
Mnemonics: Temperature (PHYSical) of the ELectrons
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: ENERGY
Mentioned in topic: BandOcc.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v5:[80]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 0.0

Gives, in Hartree, the physical temperature of the system, in case occopt=4, 5, 6, or 7.
Can be specified in Ha (the default), Ry, eV or Kelvin, since ecut has the 'ENERGY' characteristics (0.001 Ha = 27.2113845 meV = 315.773 Kelvin). One has to specify an independent broadening tsmear. The combination of the two parameters tphysel and tsmear is described in a paper by M. Verstraete and X. Gonze, Phys. Rev. B 65, 035111 (2002). Note that the signification of the entropy is modified with respect to the usual entropy. The choice has been made to use tsmear as a prefactor of the entropy, to define the entropy contribution to the free energy.

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tsmear
Mnemonics: Temperature of SMEARing
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: ENERGY
Mentioned in topics: BandOcc, STM.
Moderately used: [255/907] in abinit tests, [44/136] in tuto abinit tests. Too many tests to report (>10).
Variable type: real
Default is 0.01

Gives the broadening of occupation numbers occ, in the metallic cases (occopt=3, 4, 5, 6 and 7). Can be specified in Ha (the default), eV, Ry, or Kelvin, since tsmear has the 'ENERGY' characteristics (0.001 Ha = 27.2113845 meV = 315.773 Kelvin).
Default is 0.01 Ha. This should be OK using gaussian like smearings (occopt 4,5,6,7) for a free-electron metal like Al. For d-band metals, you may need to use less.
Always check the convergence of the calculation with respect to this parameter, and simultaneously, with respect to the sampling of k-points (see nkpt)
If occopt=3, tsmear is the physical temperature, as the broadening is based on Fermi-Dirac statistics. However, if occopt=4, 5, 6, or 7, the broadening is not based on Fermi-Dirac statistics, and tsmear is only a convergence parameter. It is still possible to define a physical temperature, thanks to the input variable tphysel. See the paper by M. Verstraete and X. Gonze, Phys. Rev. B (2002).

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usekden
Mnemonics: USE Kinetic energy DENsity
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: xc.
Moderately used: [15/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

If usekden=1 the kinetic energy density will be computed during the self-consistency loop, in a way similar to the computation of the density. This is needed if a meta-GGA is to be used as XC functional. Otherwise (usekden=0), the kinetic energy density is not computed during the self-consistency loop.

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vacuum
Mnemonics: VACUUM identification
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY
Mentioned in topic: k-points.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v2:[58]}.
Variable type: integer(3)
No default

Establishes the presence (if 1) or absence (if 0) of a vacuum layer, along the three possible directions normal to the primitive axes.

This information might be used to generate k-point grids, if kptopt=0 and neither ngkpt nor kptrlatt are defined (see explanations with the input variable prtkpt).
It will allow to select a zero-, one-, two- or three-dimensional grid of k points. The coordinate of the k points along vacuum directions is automatically set to zero.

If vacuum is not defined, the input variable vacwidth will be used to determine automatically whether the distance between atoms is sufficient to have the presence or absence of vacuum.

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vacwidth
Mnemonics: VACuum WIDTH
Executable: abinit
Characteristic: INPUT_ONLY, LENGTH
Mentioned in topic: k-points.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v2:[58]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 10.0

Give a minimum "projected" distance between atoms to be found in order to declare that there is some vacuum present for each of the three directions. By default, given in Bohr atomic units (1 Bohr=0.5291772108 Angstroms), although Angstrom can be specified, if preferred, since vacwidth has the 'LENGTH' characteristics.
The precise requirement is that a slab of width vacwidth, delimited by two planes of constant reduced coordinates in the investigated direction, must be empty of atoms.

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wtq
Mnemonics: WeighTs for the current Q-points
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: q-points.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v7:[57]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 1 (Comment: Except when qptopt/=0)

Gives the current q-point weight.

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wvl_bigdft_comp
Mnemonics: WaVeLet BigDFT Comparison
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Wavelets.
Moderately used: [21/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 0

This variable is used for the wavelets capabilities of ABINIT (see usewvl ). It is used to compare the results obtained with ABINIT with those obtained with BigDFT stand-alone. When it is set to 1, ABINIT will follow the workflow as in BigDFT stand-alone. Therefore, the results must be exactly the same with the two codes.

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wvl_crmult
Mnemonics: WaVeLet Coarse grid Radius MULTiplier
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Wavelets.
Moderately used: [16/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[gswvl_01,gswvl_02]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 6.0

This factor is used to defined the expansion of the coarse resolution grid in the case of wavelets (seea usewvl ). The grid is made of points inside spheres centered on atoms. The radius of these spheres are the product between this factor and the covalent radius of element (read from the pseudo-potential file).
This factor is responsible for the amount of used memory (see also wvl_hgrid).

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wvl_frmult
Mnemonics: WaVeLet Fine grid Radius MULTiplier
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Wavelets.
Moderately used: [16/907] in abinit tests, [2/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {tutoparal:[gswvl_01,gswvl_02]}.
Variable type: real
Default is 10.0

This factor is used to defined the expansion of the fine resolution grid in the case of wavelets (see usewvl ). This fine resolution grid has the same grid step than the coarse one (see wvl_crmult ), but on each point, 8 coefficients are stored instead of one, increasing the precision of the calculation in this area. The grid is made of points inside spheres centered on atoms. The radius of these spheres are the product between this factor and a value read from the pseudo-potential file.
This factor is responsible for the amount of used memory (see also wvl_hgrid).

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wvl_ngauss
Mnemonics: WaVeLet Number of GAUSSians
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Wavelets.
Rarely used: [5/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {bigdft:[32,33,34],bigdft_paral:[01,02]}.
Variable type: integer(2)
Default is [1, 100]

In the wavelet-PAW computation case, projectors may be fitted to a sum of complex Gaussians. The fit is done for wvl_ngauss(1), wvl_ngauss(1)+1 ... up to wvl_ngauss(2) Gaussians.

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wvl_nprccg
Mnemonics: WaVeLet maximum Number of PReConditionner Conjugate Gradient iterations
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: Wavelets.
Moderately used: [20/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Tuto test list: {}.
Variable type: integer
Default is 5

In the wavelet computation case, the wavefunctions are directly minimised using a real-space preconditionner. This preconditionner has internally some conjugate gradient iterations. This value defines a boundary for the number of conjugate gradient iterations on each wavefunction convergence step.

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xredsph_extra
Mnemonics: X(position) in REDuced coordinates of the SPHeres for dos projection in the EXTRA set
Executable: abinit
Mentioned in topic: printing.
Rarely used: [1/907] in abinit tests, [0/136] in tuto abinit tests. Test list: {v7:[04]}.
Variable type: real(3,natsph_extra)
Default is *0.0
Only relevant if natsph_extra > 0

The positions in reduced coordinates of extra spheres used in the DOS projection, simulating an STS signal. See natsph_extra for a more complete description.

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