A mathematical investigation of the Car-Parrinello method

The Car-Parrinello method for ab-initio molecular dynamics avoids the explicit minimization of energy functionals given by functional density theory in the context of the quantum adiabatic approximation (time-dependent Born-Oppenheimer approximation). Instead, it introduces a fictitious classical dynamics for the electronic orbitals. For many realistic systems this concept allowed first-principle computer simulations for the first time. In this paper we study the quantitative influence of the involved parameter , the fictitious electronic mass of the method. In particular, we prove by use of a carefully chosen two-time-scale asymptotics that the deviation of the Car-Parrinello method from the adiabatic model is of order – provided one starts in the ground state of the electronic system and the electronic excitation spectrum satisfies a certain non-degeneracy condition. Analyzing a two-level model problem we prove that our result cannot be improved in general. Received June 14, 1996