Fermionic Statistics in the Strongly Correlated Limit of Density Functional Theory

Møller-Plesset Adiabatic Connection at Large Coupling Strengths for Open-Shell Systems

We study the adiabatic connection that has as weak-coupling expansion the Møller-Plesset perturbation series, generalizing to the open-shell case previous closed-shell results for the large-coupling limit. We first focus on the hydrogen atom with fractional spins, providing results along the adiabatic connection from small to large coupling strengths. We reveal an intriguing phase diagram and an equation for the large-coupling leading order that has closed-form solutions for specific choices of its relevant quantum numbers. We then show that the hydrogen atom results provide variational estimates for the large-coupling leading terms for the general many-electron open-shell case in terms of functionals of the Hartree-Fock α-spin and β-spin densities.

Large-Z atoms in the strong-interaction limit of DFT: Implications for gradient expansions and for the Lieb-Oxford bound

We numerically study the strong-interaction limit of the exchange-correlation functional for neutral atoms and Bohr atoms as the number of electrons increases. Using a compact representation, we analyze the second-order gradient expansion, comparing it with the one for exchange (weak interaction limit). The two gradient expansions, at strong and weak interaction, turn out to be very similar in magnitude but with opposite signs. We find that the point-charge plus continuum model is surprisingly accurate for the gradient expansion coefficient at strong coupling, while generalized gradient approximations, such as Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) and PBEsol, severely underestimate it. We then use our results to analyze the Lieb-Oxford bound from the point of view of slowly varying densities, clarifying some aspects on the bound at a fixed number of electrons.

Regularized and Opposite Spin-Scaled Functionals from Møller-Plesset Adiabatic Connection─Higher Accuracy at Lower Cost

Noncovalent interactions (NCIs) play a crucial role in biology, chemistry, material science, and everything in between. To improve pure quantum-chemical simulations of NCIs, we propose a methodology for constructing approximate correlation energies by combining an interpolation along the Møller-Plesset adiabatic connection (MP AC) with a regularization and spin-scaling strategy applied to MP2 correlation energies. This combination yields cosκos-SPL2, which exhibits superior accuracy for NCIs compared to any of the individual strategies. With the N4 formal scaling, cosκos-SPL2 is competitive or often outperforms more expensive dispersion-corrected double hybrids for NCIs. The accuracy of cosκos-SPL2 particularly shines for anionic halogen bonded complexes, where it surpasses standard dispersion-corrected DFT by a factor of 3 to 5.

DFT exchange: sharing perspectives on the workhorse of quantum chemistry and materials science

In this paper, the history, present status, and future of density-functional theory (DFT) is informally reviewed and discussed by 70 workers in the field, including molecular scientists, materials scientists, method developers and practitioners. The format of the paper is that of a roundtable discussion, in which the participants express and exchange views on DFT in the form of 302 individual contributions, formulated as responses to a preset list of 26 questions. Supported by a bibliography of 777 entries, the paper represents a broad snapshot of DFT, anno 2022.

Gradient Expansions for the Large-Coupling Strength Limit of the Møller-Plesset Adiabatic Connection

The adiabatic connection that has, as weak-interaction expansion, the Møller-Plesset perturbation series has been recently shown to have a large coupling-strength expansion, in terms of functionals of the Hartree-Fock density with a clear physical meaning. In this work, we accurately evaluate these density functionals and we extract second-order gradient coefficients from the data for neutral atoms, following ideas similar to the ones used in the literature for exchange, with some modifications. These new gradient expansions will be the key ingredient for performing interpolations that have already been shown to reduce dramatically MP2 errors for large noncovalent complexes. As a byproduct, our investigation of neutral atoms with large number of electrons N indicates that the second-order gradient expansion for exchange grows as N log(N) rather than as N, as often reported in the literature.

Noncovalent Interactions from Models for the Møller-Plesset Adiabatic Connection

Given the omnipresence of noncovalent interactions (NCIs), their accurate simulations are of crucial importance across various scientific disciplines. Here we construct accurate models for the description of NCIs by an interpolation along the Møller-Plesset adiabatic connection (MP AC). Our interpolation approximates the correlation energy, by recovering MP2 at small coupling strengths and the correct large-coupling strength expansion of the MP AC, recently shown to be a functional of the Hartree-Fock density. Our models are size consistent for fragments with nondegenerate ground states, have the same cost as double hybrids, and require no dispersion corrections to capture NCIs accurately. These interpolations greatly reduce large MP2 errors for typical π-stacking complexes (e.g., benzene-pyridine dimers) and for the L7 data set. They are also competitive with state-of-the-art dispersion enhanced functionals and can even significantly outperform them for a variety of data sets, such as CT7 and L7.

Kohn-Sham equations with functionals from the strictly-correlated regime: investigation with a spectral renormalization method

We re-adapt a spectral renormalization method, introduced in nonlinear optics, to solve the Kohn-Sham (KS) equations of density functional theory, with a focus on functionals based on the strictly-correlated electrons (SCE) regime, which are particularly challenging to converge. Important aspects of the method are: (i) the eigenvalues and the density are computed simultaneously; (ii) it converges using randomized initial guesses; (iii) easy to implement. Using this method we could converge for the first time the Kohn-Sham equations with functionals that include the next leading term in the strong-interaction limit of density functional theory, the so called zero-point energy (ZPE) functional as well as with an interaction-strength-interpolation functional that includes both the exact SCE and ZPE terms. This work is the first building block for future studies on quantum systems confined in low dimensions with different statistics and long-range repulsions, such as localization properties of fermions and bosons with strong long-range repulsive interactions in the presence of a random external potential.

Kinetic Correlation Functionals from the Entropic Regularization of the Strictly Correlated Electrons Problem

In this work, we study the entropic regularization of the strictly correlated electrons formalism, discussing the implications for density functional theory and establishing a link with earlier works on quantum kinetic energy and classical entropy. We carry out a very preliminary investigation (using simplified models) on the use of the solution of the entropic regularized problem to build approximations for the kinetic correlation functional at large coupling strengths. We also analyze lower and upper bounds to the Hohenberg-Kohn functional using the entropic regularized strictly correlated electrons problem.

Investigation of the Exchange-Correlation Potentials of Functionals Based on the Adiabatic Connection Interpolation

We have studied the correlation potentials produced by various adiabatic connection models (ACMs) for several atoms and molecules. The results have been compared to accurate reference potentials (coupled cluster and quantum Monte Carlo results) as well as to state-of-the-art ab initio DFT approaches. We have found that all the ACMs yield correlation potentials that exhibit a correct behavior, quite resembling scaled second-order Görling-Levy (GL2) potentials and including most of the physically meaningful features of the accurate reference data. The behavior and contribution of the strong-interaction limit potentials have also been investigated and discussed.

Exact Density Functional Obtained via the Levy Constrained Search

A stochastic minimization method for a real-space wave function, Ψ(r₁, r₂...r _n), constrained to a chosen density, ρ(r), is developed. It enables the explicit calculation of the Levy constrained search, F[ρ] = min_Ψ→ρ⟨Ψ| T̂ + V̂ _ee|Ψ⟩, which gives the exact functional of density functional theory. This general method is illustrated in the evaluation of F[ρ] for densities in one dimension with a soft-Coulomb interaction. Additionally, procedures are given to determine the first and second functional derivatives, δ F/δρ(r) and δ² F/[δρ(r)δρ(r')]. For a chosen external potential, v(r), the functional and its derivatives are used in minimizations over densities to give the exact energy, E _v, without needing to solve the Schrödinger equation.

Response Potential in the Strong-Interaction Limit of Density Functional Theory: Analysis and Comparison with the Coupling-Constant Average

Using the formalism of the conditional amplitude, we study the response part of the exchange-correlation potential in the strong-coupling limit of density functional theory, analyzing its peculiar features and comparing it with the response potential averaged over the coupling constant for small atoms and for the hydrogen molecule. We also use a simple one-dimensional model of a stretched heteronuclear molecule to derive exact properties of the response potential in the strong-coupling limit. The simplicity of the model allows us to unveil relevant features also of the exact Kohn-Sham potential and its different components, namely the appearance of a second peak in the correlation kinetic potential on the side of the most electronegative atom.

Kinetic-Energy Density-Functional Theory on a Lattice

We present a kinetic-energy density-functional theory and the corresponding kinetic-energy Kohn–Sham (keKS) scheme on a lattice and show that, by including more observables explicitly in a density-functional approach, already simple approximation strategies lead to very accurate results. Here, we promote the kinetic-energy density to a fundamental variable alongside the density and show for specific cases (analytically and numerically) that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the external pair of on-site potential and site-dependent hopping and the internal pair of density and kinetic-energy density. On the basis of this mapping, we establish two unknown effective fields, the mean-field exchange-correlation potential and the mean-field exchange-correlation hopping, which force the keKS system to generate the same kinetic-energy density and density as the fully interacting one. We show, by a decomposition based on the equations of motions for the density and the kinetic-energy density, that we can construct simple orbital-dependent functionals that outperform the corresponding exact-exchange Kohn–Sham (KS) approximation of standard density-functional theory. We do so by considering the exact KS and keKS systems and comparing the unknown correlation contributions as well as by comparing self-consistent calculations based on the mean-field exchange (for the effective potential) and a uniform (for the effective hopping) approximation for the keKS and the exact-exchange approximation for the KS system, respectively.