  A correct description of electronic exchange and correlation effects for
molecules in contact with extended (metal) surfaces is a challenging task for
first-principles modeling. In this work we demonstrate the importance of
collective van der Waals dispersion effects beyond the pairwise approximation
for organic--inorganic systems on the example of atoms, molecules, and
nanostructures adsorbed on metals. We use the recently developed many-body
dispersion (MBD) approach in the context of density-functional theory [Phys.
Rev. Lett. 108, 236402 (2012); J. Chem. Phys. 140, 18A508 (2014)] and assess
its ability to correctly describe the binding of adsorbates on metal surfaces.
We briefly review the MBD method and highlight its similarities to
quantum-chemical approaches to electron correlation in a quasiparticle picture.
In particular, we study the binding properties of xenon,
3,4,9,10-perylene-tetracarboxylic acid (PTCDA), and a graphene sheet adsorbed
on the Ag(111) surface. Accounting for MBD effects we are able to describe
changes in the anisotropic polarizability tensor, improve the description of
adsorbate vibrations, and correctly capture the adsorbate--surface interaction
screening. Comparison to other methods and experiment reveals that inclusion of
MBD effects improves adsorption energies and geometries, by reducing the
overbinding typically found in pairwise additive dispersion-correction
approaches.
