PERI-CC2: A Polarizable Embedded RI-CC2 Method.

We present a combination of the polarizable embedding (PE) method with the resolution-of-the-identity implementation of the approximate coupled-cluster singles and doubles method CC2. The new approach, termed PERI-CC2, allows one to study excited state phenomena of large solvated molecular systems with an accurate correlated wave function method. Central to the PE approach is the advanced description of the environmental electrostatic potential and inclusion of polarization, and the quintessence of RI-CC2 is efficient access to excited state properties while retaining the accuracy associated with CC theory. To maintain efficiency, an approximate truncated CC2 density is introduced to calculate the PE contributions. Explicitly, we derive the central equations and outline an implementation of polarizable embedding for the RI-CC2 approach. The new method is tested against previous PE-CC2 and PE-CCSD results for solvatochromic shifts, demonstrating how the important effects of polarization are incorporated well with PERI-CC2 but with a dramatically reduced overall computational cost. A follow-up investigation of the solvatochromic shift of uracil in aqueous solution further illustrates the potential of PERI-CC2. We discuss the need to explicitly incorporate several water molecules into the region treated by quantum mechanics in order to obtain a reliable and accurate description of the physical effects when specific solute/solvent interactions as, e.g., hydrogen-bonds are involved.