Exchange-correlation energy approximation

We have used the basis set of the Linear-Muffin-Tin-Orbital (LMTO) method in the atomic sphere approximation (ASA). The LMTO-ASA is based on the work of Andersen and co-workers and the combined technique allows us to treat all phases on equal footing. To treat itinerant magnetism we have employed the Vosko-Wilk-Nusair parametrization for the exchange-correlation energy density and potential. In conjunction with this we have treated the alloying effects for random and partially ordered phases with a multisublattice generalization of the coherent potential approximation (CPA). 

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,... 

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 ... 

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 third term of Eq (54) is the electronic Hartree potential, whereas the fourth one represents the exchange-correlation potential. This last term is usually obtained from a model exchange-correlation energy functional xc[pl To a first order approximation, the effective KS potential compatible with the electron density p f) given in Eq (51) may be written as ... 

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... 

The first density fiinctional for the exchange-correlation energy was the local spin density (LSD) approximation [1,2]... 

Table I The essentially-exact PW92 exchange-correlation energy per electron (in hartree) in a spin-unpolarized = 0) uniform electron gas of density parameter (in bohr), and the deviation (in hartree) of other approximations from PW92. (1 hartree = 27.21 eV = 627.5 kcal/moi.]...

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