Variational quantum Monte Carlo ground state of lithium on a Slater orbital basis

The ground state of bulk lithium at zero temperature is simulated by the variational quantum Monte Carlo algorithm. The total energy and its constituents are determined for two parametrized sets of trial wave functions. Including correlation by a Jastrow factor the one-determinant ansatz consists of either plane waves or a linear combination of Slater orbitals for the Li 2s states. The latter yields results near those of the diffusion Monte Carlo algorithm