On the use of local basis sets for localized molecular orbitals

Two procedures are discussed for the direct variational optimization of localized molecular orbitals which are expanded in local subsets of the molecular basis set. It is shown that a Newton-Raphson approach is more efficient than an iterative diagonalization scheme. The effect of the basis-set truncation on the quality ofab-initio SCF results is investigated for Be, Li₂, HF, H₂O, NH₃, CH₄ and C₂H₆.