G W quasiparticle calculations with spin-orbit coupling for the light actinides

We report on the importance of GW self-energy corrections for the electronic structure of light actinides in the weak-to-intermediate coupling regime. Our study is based on calculations of the band structure and total density of states of Np, U, and Pu using a one-shot GW approximation that includes spin-orbit coupling within a full potential LAPW framework. We also present RPA screened effective Coulomb interactions for the f-electron orbitals for different lattice constants, and show that there is an increased contribution from electron-electron correlation in these systems for expanded lattices. We find a significant amount of electronic correlation in these highly localized electronic systems. © 2014 American Physical Society.