PBC geometry definition


Click here for full thread
Just Got Here
Dear all,

I am having trouble in understanding how the coordinates are defined/read when considering a periodic (3D) system.

By now I am defining the cartesian coordinates in the GEOMETRY block and the supercell lattice vectors inside the SIMULATION_CELL block, as follows:

geometry geometry units angstrom autosym noautoz
        Si 5 5 5
        Si 10 10 10
end
set geometry:actlist 2
nwpw
        simulation_cell
                lattice_vectors
                10.20 0.00 0.00
                -5.10 8.83 0.00
                0.00 0.00 30.00
        end
        smear 0.001 fermi
        xc pbe96-Grimme2
        cutoff 20
        energy_cutoff 120
        monkhorst-pack 6 6 1
end

However in the output the coordinates are somehow scrambled:

                             Geometry "geometry" -> ""
                             -------------------------

 Output coordinates in angstroms (scale by  1.889725989 to convert to a.u.)

  No.       Tag          Charge          X              Y              Z
 ---- ---------------- ---------- -------------- -------------- --------------
    1 Si                  14.0000     0.00000000     0.00000000    -4.33012702
    2 Si                  14.0000     0.00000000     0.00000000     4.33012702


I have also tried to input fractional coordinates, but the outcome is similar.

Regarding the GEOMETRY block I also have another question:

If I define the axes as follows:
        system crystal
                lat_a 10
                lat_b 10
                lat_c 20
                alpha 90
                beta 90
                gamma 120
        end


They are interpreted as:

      a1=<   8.660  -5.000   0.000 >
      a2=<   0.000  10.000   0.000 >
      a3=<   0.000   0.000  20.000 >
      a=      10.000 b=     10.000 c=      20.000
      alpha=  90.000 beta=  90.000 gamma= 120.000
      omega=  1732.1


but contrarily as I expected, the a1 axis in not aligned to the x direction.

Would please help me in clearing this step? And also, I am assuming the simulation_cell block uses the same units as defined in the geometry block, but I would like to be confirmed about it.

Thank you in advance,

Aldo