Correlation local density approximations

The application of density functional theory to isolated, organic molecules is still in relative infancy compared with the use of Hartree-Fock methods. There continues to be a steady stream of publications designed to assess the performance of the various approaches to DFT. As we have discussed there is a plethora of ways in which density functional theory can be implemented with different functional forms for the basis set (Gaussians, Slater type orbitals, or numerical), different expressions for the exchange and correlation contributions within the local density approximation, different expressions for the gradient corrections and different ways to solve the Kohn-Sham equations to achieve self-consistency. This contrasts with the situation for Hartree-Fock calculations, wlrich mostly use one of a series of tried and tested Gaussian basis sets and where there is a substantial body of literature to help choose the most appropriate method for incorporating post-Hartree-Fock methods, should that be desired. 

One approach, using a local density approximation for each part, has E - = Es -1- Evwn, where Eg is a Slater functional and Evwn is a correlation functional from Vosko, Wilk, and Nusair (1980). Both functionals in this treatment assume a homogeneous election density. The result is unsatisfactory, leading to enors of more than 50 kcal mol for simple hydrocarbons. 

Theoretical calculations were performed with the linear muffin tin orbital (LMTO) method and the local density approximation for exchange and correlation. This method was used in combination with supercell models containing up to 16 atoms to calculate the DOS. The LMTO calculations are run self consistently and the DOS obtained are combined with the matrix elements for the transitions from initial to final states as described in detail elsewhere (Botton et al., 1996a) according to the method described by Vvedensky (1992). A comparison is also made between spectra calculated for some of the B2 compounds using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) method. 

The local density approximation is highly successful and has been used in density functional calculations for many years now. There were several difficulties in implementing better approximations, but in 1991 Perdew et al. successfully parametrised a potential known as the generalised gradient approximation (GGA) which expresses the exchange and correlation potential as a function of both the local density and its gradient ... 

Here, exc(p(r)) is the exchange-correlation energy per particle of a uniform electron gas of density p( ). This energy per particle is weighted with the probability p(r) that there is in fact an electron at this position in space. Writing Exc in this way defines the local density approximation, LDA for short. The quantity exc(p(r)) can be further split into exchange and correlation contributions,... 

Perdew, J. P., 1991, Unified Theory of Exchange and Correlation Beyond the Local Density Approximation , in Electronic Structure of Solids, P. Ziesche, H. Eschrig (eds.), Akademie Verlag, Berlin. 

In principle, the KS equations would lead to the exact electron density, provided the exact analytic formula of the exchange-correlation energy functional E was known. However, in practice, approximate expressions of Exc must be used, and the search of adequate functionals for this term is probably the greatest challenge of DFT8. The simplest model has been proposed by Kohn and Sham if the system is such that its electron density varies slowly, the local density approximation (LDA) may be introduced ... 

Density-functional theory, developed 25 years ago (Hohenberg and Kohn, 1964 Kohn and Sham, 1965) has proven very successful for the study of a wide variety of problems in solid state physics (for a review, see Martin, 1985). Interactions (beyond the Hartree potential) between electrons are described with an exchange and correlation potential, which is expressed as a functional of the charge density. For practical purposes, this functional needs to be approximated. The local-density approximation (LDA), in which the exchange and correlation potential at a particular point is only a function of the charge density at that same point, has been extensively tested and found to provide a reliable description of a wide variety of solid-state properties. Choices of numerical cutoff parameters or integration schemes that have to be made at various points in the density-functional calculations are all amenable to explicit covergence tests. 

The term Exc[p] is called the exchange-correlation energy functional and represents the main problem in the DFT approach. The exact form of the functional is unknown, and one must resort to approximations. The local density approximation (LDA), the first to be introduced, assumed that the exchange and correlation energy of an electron at a point r depends on the density at that point, instead of the density at all points in space. The LDA was not well accepted by the chemistry community, mainly because of the difficulty in correctly describing the chemical bond. Other approaches to Exc[p] were then proposed and enable satisfactory prediction of a variety of observables [9]. 

The problem is that the exchange correlation functional Exc is unknown. Approximate forms have to be used. The most well-known is the local density approximation (LDA) in which the expressions for a uniform electron gas are... 

The local density approximation (LDA)24 is often used to calculate Exc[n and Vxc(r). The LDA uses as input the exchange-correlation energy of an electron gas of constant density. In a homogeneous system the exchange energy per particle is known exactly and it has the expression... 

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