Ab-initio studies of electronic and spectroscopic properties of MgO, ZnO and CdO

We present ab-initio calculations of excited-state properties within single-particle and two-particle approaches in comparison with corresponding experimental results. For the theoretical treatment of the electronic structure, we compute eigenvalues and eigenfunctions by using a spatially nonlocal exchange-correlation potential. From this starting point, quasiparticle energies within the fully frequency-dependent G_oW_o approximation are obtained. By solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation, we evaluate optical properties, including the electron-hole attraction and the local-field effects. The results are compared with experimental spectra from soft X-ray emission, as well as from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy or ellipsometry measurements. In more detail, we compute the valenceband densities of states, bound excitons, and the dielectric function. For the latter, we discuss both the absorption edge and higher critical points.