Dielectric function and thermodynamic properties of jellium in the GW approximation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the dielectric and thermodynamic properties of jellium within the GW approximation, addressing its known deficiencies in dielectric response and clarifying previous conflicting results on ground-state energies.

Contribution

It demonstrates that enforcing particle-number conservation in the polarization function corrects dielectric response issues and clarifies the accuracy of GW energy calculations.

Findings

Corrected dielectric response by enforcing particle-number conservation.

Resolved discrepancies in ground-state energy data.

Provided new values for key Fermi-liquid properties.

Abstract

The fully self-consistent GW approximation is an established method for electronic structure calculations. Its most serious deficiency is known to be an incorrect prediction of the dielectric response. In this work we examine the GW approximation for the homogeneous electron gas and find that problems with the dielectric response are solved by enforcing the particle-number conservation law in the polarization function. Previously reported data for the ground-state energy were plainly contradicting each other well outside of reported error bounds. Some of these results created a false impression of how accurate the fully self-consistent GW approximation is. We resolve this controversy by confirming that only Ref. [15] was reporting correct energy data, and present values for other key Fermi-liquid properties.