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ABSTRACT: We generalize the exact strong-interaction limit of the exchange-correlation
energy of Kohn-Sham density functional theory to open systems with fluctuating
particle numbers. When used in the self-consistent Kohn-Sham procedure on
strongly-correlated systems, this functional yields exact features crucial for
important applications such as electronic transport. In particular, the
step-like structure of the highest-occupied Kohn-Sham eigenvalue is very well
captured, with accurate quantitative agreement with exact many-body chemical
potentials. Whilst it can be shown that a sharp derivative discontinuity is
only present in the infinitely strong-correlated limit, at finite correlation
regimes we observe a slightly-smoothened discontinuity, with qualitative and
quantitative features that improve with increasing correlation. From the
fundamental point of view, our results obtain the derivative discontinuity
without making the assumptions used in its standard derivation, offering
independent support for its existence.
05/2013;
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ABSTRACT: We discuss energy densities in the strong-interaction limit of density
functional theory, deriving an exact expression within the definition (gauge)
of the electrostatic potential of the exchange-correlation hole. Exact results
for small atoms and small model quantum dots are compared with available
approximations defined in the same gauge. The idea of a local interpolation
along the adiabatic connection is discussed, comparing the energy densities of
the Kohn-Sham, the physical, and the strong-interacting systems. We also use
our results to analyze the local version of the Lieb-Oxford bound, widely used
in the construction of approximate exchange-correlation functionals.
05/2012;
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ABSTRACT: Improving the accuracy and thus broadening the applicability of electronic density functional theory (DFT) is crucial to many research areas, from material science, to theoretical chemistry, biophysics and biochemistry. In the last three years, the mathematical structure of the strong-interaction limit of density functional theory has been uncovered, and exact information on this limit has started to become available. The aim of this paper is to give a perspective on how this new piece of exact information can be used to treat situations that are problematic for standard Kohn-Sham DFT. One way to use the strong-interaction limit, more relevant for solid-state physical devices, is to define a new framework to do practical, non-conventional, DFT calculations in which a strong-interacting reference system is used instead of the traditional non-interacting one of Kohn and Sham. Another way to proceed, more related to chemical applications, is to include the exact treatment of the strong-interaction limit into approximate exchange-correlation energy density functionals in order to describe difficult situations such as the breaking of the chemical bond.
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 10/2010; 12(43):14405-19. · 3.57 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The adiabatic connection of density functional theory (DFT) for electronic systems is generalized here to negative values of the coupling strength $\alpha$ (with {\em attractive} electrons). In the extreme limit $\alpha\to-\infty$ a simple physical solution is presented and its implications for DFT (as well as its limitations) are discussed. For two-electron systems (a case in which the present solution can be calculated exactly), we find that an interpolation between the limit $\alpha\to-\infty$ and the opposite limit of infinitely strong repulsion ($\alpha\to+\infty$) yields a rather accurate estimate of the second-order correlation energy $E\cor\glt[\rho]$ for several different densities $\rho$, without using virtual orbitals. The same procedure is also applied to the Be isoelectronic series, analyzing the effects of near-degeneracy. Comment: 9 pages, submitted to PRA
10/2009;
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ABSTRACT: We present an alternative to the Kohn-Sham formulation of density-functional theory for the ground-state properties of strongly interacting electronic systems. The idea is to start from the limit of zero kinetic energy and systematically expand the universal energy functional of the density in powers of a "coupling constant" that controls the magnitude of the kinetic energy. The problem of minimizing the energy is reduced to the solution of a strictly correlated electron problem in the presence of an effective potential, which in our theory plays the same role as the Kohn-Sham potential plays in the traditional formulation. We discuss several schemes for approximating the energy functional, and report preliminary results for low-density quantum dots.
Physical Review Letters 10/2009; 103(16):166402. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The exchange-correlation energy in Kohn-Sham density functional theory can be expressed exactly in terms of the change in the expectation of the electron-electron repulsion operator when, in the many-electron hamiltonian, this same operator is multiplied by a real parameter $\lambda$ varying between 0 (Kohn-Sham system) and 1 (physical system). In this process, usually called adiabatic connection, the one-electron density is kept fixed by a suitable local one-body potential. The strong-interaction limit of density functional theory, defined as the limit $\lambda\to\infty$, turns out to be, like the opposite non-interacting Kohn-Sham limit ($\lambda\to 0$) mathematically simpler than the physical ($\lambda=1$) case, and can be used to build an approximate interpolation formula between $\lambda\to 0$ and $\lambda\to\infty$ for the exchange-correlation energy. Here we extend the exact treatment of the $\lambda\to\infty$ limit [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 75}, 042511 (2007)] to the next leading term, describing zero-point oscillations of strictly correlated electrons, with numerical examples for small spherical atoms. We also propose an improved approximate functional for the zero-point term and a revised interpolation formula for the exchange-correlation energy satisfying more exact constraints. Comment: 11 pages, submitted to J. Chem. Theory Comput
12/2008;
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ABSTRACT: It was found by Perdew, Parr, Levy, and Balduz [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 49}, 1691 (1982)] and by Sham and Schl\"uter [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 51}, 1884 (1983)] that the exact Kohn-Sham exchange-correlation potential of an open system may jump discontinuosly as the particle number crosses an integer, with important physical consequences. Recently, Sagvolden and Perdew [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 77}, 012517 (2008)] have analyzed the discontinuity of the exchange-correlation potential as the particle number crosses one, with an illustration that uses a model density for the H$^-$ ion. In this work, we extend their analysis to the case in which the external potential is the simple harmonic confinement, choosing spring-constant values for which the two-electron hamiltonian has an analytic solution. This way, we can obtain the exact, analytic, exchange and correlation potentials for particle number fluctuating between zero and two, illustrating the discontinuity as the particle number crosses one without introducing any model or approximation. We also discuss exchange and correlation separately. Comment: Submitted to Int. J. Quantum Chem., special issue honoring Prof. Mayer. New version, where an important error has been corrected
10/2008;
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ABSTRACT: The combination of density-functional theory with other approaches to the many-electron problem through the separation of the electron-electron interaction into a short-range and a long-range contribution (range separation) is a successful strategy, which is raising more and more interest in recent years. We focus here on a range-separated method in which only the short-range correlation energy needs to be approximated, and we model it within the "extended Overhauser approach". We consider the paradigmatic case of the H$_2$ molecule along the dissociation curve, finding encouraging results. By means of very accurate variational wavefunctions, we also study how the effective electron-electron interaction appearing in the Overhauser model should be in order to yield the exact correlation energy for standard Kohn-Sham density functional theory. Comment: submitted to Int. J. Quantum Chem., special issue dedicated to Prof. Hirao
09/2008;
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ABSTRACT: The correlation energy in density functional theory can be expressed exactly in terms of the change in the probability of finding two electrons at a given distance r(12) (intracule density) when the electron-electron interaction is multiplied by a real parameter lambda varying between 0 (Kohn-Sham system) and 1 (physical system). In this process, usually called adiabatic connection, the one-electron density is (ideally) kept fixed by a suitable local one-body potential. While an accurate intracule density of the physical system can only be obtained from expensive wavefunction-based calculations, being able to construct good models starting from Kohn-Sham ingredients would highly improve the accuracy of density functional calculations. To this purpose, we investigate the intracule density in the lambda --> infinity limit of the adiabatic connection. This strong-interaction limit of density functional theory turns out to be, like the opposite non-interacting Kohn-Sham limit, mathematically simple and can be entirely constructed from the knowledge of the one-electron density. We develop here the theoretical framework and, using accurate correlated one-electron densities, we calculate the intracule densities in the strong interaction limit for few atoms. Comparison of our results with the corresponding Kohn-Sham and physical quantities provides useful hints for building approximate intracule densities along the adiabatic connection of density functional theory.
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 07/2008; 10(23):3440-6. · 3.57 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The electronic structure calculations based upon energy density functionals are highly successful and widely used both in solid state physics and quantum chemistry. Moreover, the Hohenberg-Kohn theorems and the Kohn-Sham method provide them with a firm basis. However, several basic issues are not solved, and hamper the progress to achieve high accuracy. In this paper we focus on the conceptual problem of size consistency, basing our analysis on the non-intensive character of the (spin) electronic density in the presence of degeneracy. We also briefly discuss some of the issues concerning fractional electron numbers from the same point of view, analyzing the behavior of the exact functionals for the He and the Hooke's atom series when the number of electrons fluctuates between one and two. Comment: submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Series
02/2008;
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ABSTRACT: The ``extended Overhauser model'' [Overhauser, Can. J. Phys. 1995, 73, 683] for the calculation of the spherically and system-averaged pair density (APD) has been recently combined with the Kohn-Sham equations to yield realistic APD and correlation energies. In this work we test this approach in the high-density (weakly-correlated) limit of the He isoelectronic series and of the Hooke's atom isoelectronic series. Unlike many of the commonly used energy functionals, the Overhauser approach yields accurate correlation energies for both series.
03/2007;
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ABSTRACT: We reformulate the strong-interaction limit of electronic density functional theory in terms of a classical problem with a degenerate minimum. This allows us to clarify many aspects of this limit, and to write a general solution, which is explicitly calculated for spherical densities. We then compare our results with previous approximate solutions and discuss the implications for density functional theory.
02/2007;
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ABSTRACT: We introduce a short-range correlation density functional defined with respect to a multi-determinantal reference which is meant to be used in a multi-determinantal extension of the Kohn-Sham scheme of density functional theory based on a long-range/short-range decomposition of the Coulomb electron-electron interaction. We construct the local density approximation for this functional and discuss its performance on the He atom.
12/2006;
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ABSTRACT: A recently developed formalism in which Kohn-Sham calculations are combined with an ``average pair density functional theory'' is reviewed, and some new properties of the effective electron-electron interaction entering in this formalism are derived. A preliminary construction of a fully self-consitent scheme is also presented in this framework. Comment: submitted to Int. J. Mod. Phys. B (proceedings of the 30th International Workshop on Condensed Matter Theories)
11/2006;
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ABSTRACT: The formalism of Kohn and Sham uses a specific (model) hamiltonian which highly simplifies the many-electron problem to that of noninteracting fermions. The theorem of Hohenberg and Kohn tells us that, for a given ground state density, this hamiltonian is unique. In principle, this density can be chosen as that of the real, interacting system. To obtain the energy, or other properties of the real system, approximations are needed. Working with non interacting fermions is an important simplification, but it may be easier to produce approximations with different choices of the model hamiltonian. The feature that the exact density is (ideally) reproduced can be kept in the newly defined fictitious systems. Using model hamiltonians having the same form as the physical one, that is, being built of one- and two-body operators, allows to approach the physical hamiltonian arbitrarily close, and thus a systematic reduction of the approximations.
06/2006;
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ABSTRACT: We analyze a decomposition of the Coulomb electron-electron interaction into a long-range and a short-range part in the framework of density functional theory, deriving some scaling relations and the corresponding virial theorem. We study the behavior of the local density approximation in the high-density limit for the long-range and the short-range functionals by carrying out a detailed analysis of the correlation energy of a uniform electron gas interacting via a long-range only electron-electron repulsion. Possible definitions of exchange and correlation energy densities are discussed and clarified with some examples.
06/2006;
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ABSTRACT: Based on exact limits and quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we obtain, at any density and spin polarization, an accurate estimate for the energy of a modified homogeneous electron gas where electrons repel each other only with a long-range coulombic tail. This allows us to construct an analytic local-spin-density exchange-correlation functional appropriate to new, multideterminantal versions of the density functional theory, where quantum chemistry and approximate exchange-correlation functionals are combined to optimally describe both long- and short-range electron correlations. Comment: revised version, ti appear in PRB
01/2006;
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Condensed Matter Theories. 01/2006; 20:13.
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Physical Review-Section B-Condensed Matter. 01/2006; 73(15):155111-155111.
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ABSTRACT: The combination of density functional theory with other approaches to the many-electron problem through the separation of the electron-electron interaction into a short-range and a long-range contribution is a promising method, which is raising more and more interest in recent years. In this work some properties of the corresponding correlation energy functionals are derived by studying the electron-electron coalescence condition for a modified (long-range-only) interaction. A general relation for the on-top (zero electron-electron distance) pair density is derived, and its usefulness is discussed with some examples. For the special case of the uniform electron gas, a simple parameterization of the on-top pair density for a long-range only interaction is presented and supported by calculations within the ``extended Overhauser model''. The results of this work can be used to build self-interaction corrected short-range correlation energy functionals. Comment: revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev. A
11/2005;
