Kohn-Sham density functional theory is the workhorse computational method in materials and surface science. Unfortunately, most semilocal density functionals predict surfaces to be more stable than they are experimentally. Naively, we would expect that consequently adsorption energies on surfaces are too small as well, but the contrary is often found: chemisorption energies are usually overestimated. Modifying the functional improves either the adsorption energy or the surface energy but always worsens the other aspect. This suggests that semilocal density functionals possess a fundamental flaw that is difficult to cure, and alternative methods are urgently needed. Here we show that a computationally fairly efficient many-electron approach, the random phase approximation to the correlation energy, resolves this dilemma and yields at the same time excellent lattice constants, surface energies and adsorption energies for carbon monoxide and benzene on transition-metal surfaces.

The structural properties of graphite, such as the interlayer equilibrium distance, the elastic constant, and the net layer binding energy, are obtained using the adiabatic-connection fluctuation-dissipation theorem in the random phase approximation. Excellent agreement is found with the available experimental data; however, our computed binding energy of 48 meV per atom is somewhat smaller than the one obtained by quantum Monte Carlo methods. The asymptotic behavior of the interlayer dispersion interaction, previously derived from analytic approximations, is explicitly demonstrated to follow a d-3 behavior at very large distances.

We present lattice constants, bulk moduli, and atomization energies of solids using the correlation energy evaluated within the adiabatic connection fluctuation-dissipation framework and applying the random-phase approximation. Recently, we have shown ͓Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 056401 ͑2009͔͒ that geometrical properties and heats of formation are well described within this approximation. We extend this study to a larger set of materials and focus on the treatment of metals and the effect introduced by the frozen-core approximation.

We present first-principles calculations for the fcc noble gas solids Ne, Ar, and Kr applying the adiabatic connection fluctuation-dissipation theorem ͑ACFDT͒ to evaluate the correlation energy. The ACFDT allows us to describe long-range correlation effects including London dispersion or van der Waals interaction on top of conventional density functional theory calculations. Even within the random phase approximation, the typical 1 / V 2 volume dependence for the cohesive energy of the noble gas solids is reproduced, and equilibrium cohesive energies and lattice constants are improved compared to density functional theory calculations. Furthermore, we present atomization energies for H 2 , N 2 , and O 2 within the same post-density-functionaltheory framework, finding an excellent agreement with previously published data.

For ab initio electronic structure calculations, the random-phase approximation to the correlation energy is supposed to be a suitable complement to the exact exchange energy. We show that lattice constants, atomization energies of solids, and adsorption energies on metal surfaces evaluated using this approximation are in very good agreement with experiment. Since the method is fairly efficient and handles ionic, metallic, and van der Waals bonded systems equally well, it is a very promising choice to improve upon density functional theory calculations, without resorting to more demanding diffusion Monte Carlo or quantum chemical methods.