KERNEL TRUNCATION/FACTOR

From VASP Wiki

KERNEL_TRUNCATION/FACTOR = real 

Default: KERNEL_TRUNCATION/FACTOR = $\sqrt{3}$ if KERNEL_TRUNCATION/IDIMENSIONALITY = 0
= 1 if KERNEL_TRUNCATION/IDIMENSIONALITY = 2

Description: KERNEL_TRUNCATION/FACTOR determines the spatial extent of the truncated Coulomb interaction relative to the full cell dimension along the truncation direction[1].


This tag defines the cutoff distance of the Coulomb kernel truncation boundary. It is expressed as a fraction of the simulation cell length along the truncated axis (e.g., the surface normal for 2D systems).

Mind: KERNEL_TRUNCATION/LTRUNCATE must be set to .TRUE. for KERNEL_TRUNCATION/FACTOR to take effect.

Example

KERNEL_TRUNCATION {
     LTRUNCATE       = T
     IDIMENSIONALITY = 2
     ISURFACE        = 3
     IPAD            = 2
     FACTOR          = 1
}

In this case an additional empty cell is added along the z direciton as padding. The coulomb interaction is truncated beyond a z length. This ensures maximum usage of the simulation box.

KERNEL_TRUNCATION {
     LTRUNCATE       = T
     IDIMENSIONALITY = 2
     ISURFACE        = 3
     IPAD            = 1
     FACTOR          = 0.5
}

This setup corresponds to truncating the Coulomb interaction along the surface normal (z-direction) for a 2D material, using no vacuum padding and a truncation length of z/2. In this case, half of the simulation box is effectively unused, but the algorithm remains simpler. This configuration can be useful for debugging purposes.

Related tags and articles

KERNEL_TRUNCATION/LTRUNCATE, KERNEL_TRUNCATION/IDIMENSIONALITY, KERNEL_TRUNCATION/LCOARSEN, KERNEL_TRUNCATION/IPAD, KERNEL_TRUNCATION/ISURFACE

References