Carefully converged calculations are performed for the band gap of ZnO within many-body perturbation theory ($G^0{W}^0$ approximation). The results obtained using four different well-established plasmon-pole models are compared with those of explicit calculations without such models (the contour-deformation approach). This comparison shows that, surprisingly, plasmon-pole models depending on the $f$-sum rule gives less precise results. In particular, it confirms that the band gap of ZnO is underestimated in the $G^0{W}^0$ approach as compared to experiment, contrary to the recent claim of Shih et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 146401 (2010)].

• Received 23 October 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.241201