Lattice dynamics calculations based on density-functional perturbation theory in real space

A real-space formalism for density-functional perturbation theory (DFPT) is derived and applied for the computation of harmonic vibrational properties in molecules and solids. The practical implementation using numeric atom-centered orbitals as basis functions is demonstrated exemplarily for the all-electron Fritz Haber Institute ab initio molecular simulations (FHI-aims) package. The convergence of the calculations with respect to numerical parameters is carefully investigated and a systematic comparison with finite-difference approaches is performed both for finite (molecules) and extended (periodic) systems. Finally, the scaling tests and scalability tests on massively parallel computer systems demonstrate the computational efficiency.