Static correlated functionals for reduced density matrix functional theory

Based on recent progress on fermionic exchange symmetry we propose a way to develop new functionals for reduced density matrix functional theory. For some settings with an odd number of electrons, by assuming saturation of the inequalities stemming from the generalized Pauli principle, the many-body wave-function can be written explicitly in terms of the natural occupation numbers and the natural orbitals. This leads to an expression for the two-particle reduced density matrix and therefore for the correlation energy functional. This functional is tested for a three-electron Hubbard model where it shows excellent performance both in the weak and strong correlation regimes.     

Single-particle energies and density of states in density functional theory

Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) is commonly used as the foundation to obtain neutral excited states and transition weights in DFT, but does not allow direct access to density of states and single-particle energies, i.e. ionisation energies and electron affinities. Here we show that by extending TD-DFT to a superfluid formulation, which involves operators that break particle-number symmetry, we can obtain the density of states and single-particle energies from the poles of an appropriate superfluid response function. The standard Kohn– Sham eigenvalues emerge as the adiabatic limit of the superfluid response under the assumption that the exchange– correlation functional has no dependence on the superfluid density. The Kohn– Sham eigenvalues can thus be interpreted as approximations to the ionisation energies and electron affinities. Beyond this approximation, the formalism provides an incentive for creating a new class of density functionals specifically targeted at accurate single-particle eigenvalues and bandgaps.     

Quantal density functional theory of excited states

We explain by quantal density functional theory the physics of mapping from any bound nondegenerate excited state of Schr?dinger theory to an S system of noninteracting fermions with equivalent density and energy. The S system may be in a ground or excited state. In either case, the highest occupied eigenvalue is the negative of the ionization potential. We demonstrate this physics with examples. The theory further provides a new framework for calculations of atomic excited states including multiplet structure.     

Excited states dynamics in time-dependent density functional theory

We present numerical simulations of femtosecond laser induced dynamics of some selected simple molecules -- hydrogen, singly ionized sodium dimer, singly ionized helium trimer and lithium cyanide. The simulations were performed within a real-space, real-time, implementation of time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). High harmonic generation, Coulomb explosion and laser induced photo-dissociation are observed. The scheme also describes non-adiabatic effects, such as the appearance of even harmonics for homopolar but isotopically asymmetric dimers, even if the ions are treated classically. This TDDFT-based method is reliable, scalable, and extensible to other phenomena such as photoisomerization, molecular transport and chemical reactivity.Received: 15 October 2003PACS: 33.80.Gj Diffuse spectra; predissociation, photodissociation - 33.80.Wz Other multiphoton processes     

The problem of the universal density functional and the density matrix functional theory

The analysis in this paper shows that the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem is the constellation of two statements: (i) the mathematically rigorous Hohenberg-Kohn lemma, which demonstrates that the same ground-state density cannot correspond to two different potentials of an external field, and (ii) the hypothesis of the existence of the universal density functional. Based on the obtained explicit expression for the nonrel-ativistic particle energy in a local external field, we prove that the energy of the system of more than two non-interacting electrons cannot be a functional of the inhomogeneous density. This result is generalized to the system of interacting electrons. It means that the Hohenberg-Kohn lemma cannot provide justification of the universal density functional for fermions. At the same time, statements of the density functional theory remain valid when considering any number of noninteracting ground-state bosons due to the Bose condensation effect. In the framework of the density matrix functional theory, the hypothesis of the existence of the universal density matrix functional corresponds to the cases of noninteracting particles and to interaction in the Hartree-Fock approximation.     

Local approximation of the correlation energy functional in the density matrix functional theory

A local approximation formula of the correlation energy functional E(c) in terms of the first-order reduced density matrix (1-RDM) is presented. With the contracted Schr?dinger equation the principal dependence of E(c) on the natural occupation numbers n(i) is identified. Using the effective mass theory, E(c) is expressed as a functional of the local density and the local variable, J = SUM (i)[square root of (n(i)(1-n(i))] /phi(i)/(2), where phi(i) are the natural spin orbitals. This local approximation satisfies the homogeneous coordinate scaling relation, gives the exact result for a one-electron system, and is almost free from the exchange energy error. It reproduced about 90% of the correlation energies of atoms and molecules.     

Peierls condition and number of ground states

Recently Pirogov and Sinai developped a theory of phase transitions in systems satisfying Peierls condition. We give a criterium for the Peierls condition to hold and apply it to several systems. In particular we prove that ferromagnetic system satisfies the Peierls condition iff its (internal) symmetry group is finite. And using an algebraic argument we show that in two dimensions the symmetry groups of reduced translation invariant systems is finite.     

Two algorithms for the lower bound method of reduced density matrix theory

We analyze the lower bound method of reduced density matrix theory, a method which obtains a lower bound to the ground state energy of a many-fermion system as well as an approximation to the corresponding reduced density matrix. Our main result is a theorem giving necessary and sufficient conditions for the optimum for the central optimization problem of this method. Based on this theorem we have developed two algorithms for solving this optimization problem. We consider their convergence properties.     

Aluminum Hugoniot from model calculations including semicore electrons based on density functional theory

We present a method to obtain Hugoniot from model calculations based on density functional theory, and apply the method to aluminum Hugoniot. Technological advances have extended the experimental research of high energy density physics, and call for quantitative theoretical analysis. However, direct computation of Hugoniot from density functional theory is very difficult. We propose two step calculations of Hugoniot from density functional theory. The first step is molecular dynamics simulations with an ambient temperature for electrons. The second step is total energy calculations of a crystal with desired high temperatures for electrons and with the ambient temperature for electrons. We treated the semicore 2s and 2p electrons of aluminum as valence electrons only for the total energy calculations of the aluminum crystal. The aluminum Hugoniot from our model calculations is in excellent agreement with available experimental data and the previous density functional theory calculations in the literature.     

Contact density and number of 5s electrons inβ-Sn

Lifetimes and feeding times of high spin states in ¹⁵⁶ Er have been measured employing the recoil distance method in the reaction ¹²³ Sb(³⁷ Cl,4n) at bombarding energies of 158 and 166 MeV. The yrast states up to spin 20 ? were found to be collective. These levels are fed, however, from long-lived high spin states, causing time delays up to ～ 100 ps, the existence of which is interpreted as a signature for an oblate shape at high spin.     

Phase transitions in systems with a finite number of dominant ground states

We develop a theory of low-temperature phases of discrete lattice systems which is guided by formal perturbation theory, and which in turn yields its rigorous justification. The theory applies to many systems with an infinite number of ground states for which the perturbation theory predicts a finite number of low-temperature phases. We illustrate it on a number of examples.     

Many-body diagrammatic expansion in a kohn-sham basis: implications for time-dependent density functional theory of excited states

We formulate diagrammatic rules for many-body perturbation theory which uses Kohn-Sham Green's functions as basic propagators. The diagram technique allows one to study the properties of the dynamic nonlocal exchange-correlation (xc) kernel f(xc). We show that the spatial nonlocality of f(xc) is strongly frequency dependent. In particular, in extended systems the nonlocality range diverges at the excitation energies. This divergency is related to the discontinuity of the xc potential.     

The polarisability of atoms and molecules: a comparison between a conceptual density functional theory approach and time-dependent density functional theory

We investigate the local polarisability or polarisability density using both a conceptual density functional theory approach based on the linear response function and time-dependent density functional theory. Using a zero frequency in the latter, we can immediately compare both approaches. Using an analytical expression for the linear response kernel, we are able to systematically analyse α(r) throughout the periodic table. An extension to molecules is also made with a study of the CO molecule retrieving the connection between local softness and local polarisability.     

Charge transfer, double and bond-breaking excitations with time-dependent density matrix functional theory

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) in its current adiabatic implementations exhibits three remarkable failures: (a) completely wrong behavior of the excited state surface along a bond-breaking coordinate; (b) lack of doubly excited configurations; (c) much too low charge transfer excitation energies. These TDDFT failure cases are all strikingly exhibited by prototype two-electron systems such as dissociating H2 and HeH+. We find for these systems with time-dependent density matrix functional theory that: (a) Within previously formulated simple adiabatic approximations, the bonding-to-antibonding excited state surface as well as charge transfer excitations are described without problems, but not the double excitations; (b) An adiabatic approximation is formulated in which also the double excitations are fully accounted for.