[Pw_forum] SG-15 Pseudopotentials local channel

[Kayahan Saritas]

Dear PWSCF Users,

I am trying to convert SG-15 pseudopotentials -PP- into CASINO format (a popular Quantum Monte Carlo -QMC- code) using upf2casino.x in Quantum Espresso distribution under /upftools directory. 

However, the converted pseudopotential seems to get negative values for the local angular momentum channel. I think it is because “l_local" parameter is also set to the same value in the PP_HEADER section of the .UPF file and the conversion script assumes that it is the local channel. Right now I am testing the converted PP assuming that l_local-l_max which means that the maximum angular momentum orbital is actually the local channel. 

Is there anybody else who has such experience with the PP? What else should I be looking for in order to understand the conversion is right? I would look for some physical properties normally in DFT, but doing them in QMC takes a very long time. 

Thanks a lot in advance!

Best,
Kayahan