Geminal-based electronic structure methods in quantum chemistry. Toward a geminal model chemistry.

In this review, we discuss the recent progress in developing geminal-based theories for challenging problems in quantum chemistry. Specifically, we focus on the antisymmetrized geminal power, generalized valence bond, antisymmetrized product of strongly orthogonal geminals, singlet-type orthogonal geminals, the antisymmetric product of 1-reference orbital geminal, also known as the pair coupled cluster doubles ansatz, and geminals constructed from Richardson-Gaudin states. Furthermore, we review various corrections to account for the missing dynamical correlation effects in geminal models and possible extensions to target electronically excited states and open-shell species. Finally, we discuss some numerical examples and present-day challenges for geminal-based models, including a quantitative and qualitative analysis of wave functions, and software availability.