Energy functional of the axial marginal densit in linear molecules

The axial marginal density is defined as a projection of the three-dimensional electron density onto the symmetry axis in a linear molecule, and represents essential features of the bonding characteristics of that system. Based on the local scaling method, a theory is presented for the direct and variational determination of the axial marginal density. Illustrative applications are presented for the ground 1so_g state of the H₂⁺ molecule, and simple yet sufficiently accurate marginal densities are reported.