Prerequisites
Both
aoforceand even moreNumForcerequire well converged SCF-/DFT-calculations (e.g.$scfconv 8andjobex [-ri] -gcart 4) and often also the inclusion of DFT weight derivatives.The maximum core memory the program
aoforceis allowed to allocate should be defined in the data group$maxcor; the recommended value is about 50% of the available (physical) core memory (in case of RI-calculations subtract the memory specified in$ricore).To start
aoforcein the lowest eigenvalue search mode, use the keyword$les. For its use as well as other keywords dealing with the calculation of only some irreps, see the reference guide part of this manual.NumForceadditionally requires the filegradientand will not work, if the calculation is not done at a stationary point of the molecular total energy. For reliable results, always useNumForcewith the option-central(i.e. central differences) and be aware of effects due to the step length (option-dreal;, default value is 0.02 a.u.). It is strongly recommended to useNumForcein DFT calculations only with the optionweight derivativesin$dft, since this provides more accurate gradients and thus frequencies, see Section 25.2.16.The
NumForcescript can be run for different levels of theory, which means that the binaries it calls have to be specified additionally. To perform calculations using the RI approximation, callNumForcewith the option-ri. MP2 and CC2 calculations are requested via the options-level mp2and-level cc2, respectively.NumForceworks also on the RI-RPA level with-level rirpa(note: the-rioption must be used in this case). To select the correct option(s), use the explanations you get by callingNumForce -h.
For a review of theory and implementation see refs. [315, 316].