On the physical nature and chemical utility of Kohn-Sham orbitals
- Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Density functional calculations almost invariably use the one-electron Kohn-Sham orbitals to calculate the electron density. It is sometimes stated that these KS orbitals have no special physical meaning, but are constructs, arising in the KS formulation of DFT, that are only useful to obtain the density. We will argue that on the contrary the KS orbitals are often very similar to the molecular orbitals that arise in the Hartree-Fock model. When they differ the Kohn-Sham orbitals have certain advantageous properties and correspond in fact more closely to the orbitals used explicitly or implicitly in qualitative MO theory. The arguments of QMO theory, with their emphasis on bonding and antibonding nature of MOs, do hold perfectly for KS orbitals. The reason that Kohn-Sham orbitals are meaningful objects is related to the fact that the effective one-electron Kohn-Sham potential embodies the effects of electron correlation. It has recently become possible to calculate accurate Kohn-Sham potentials from accurate electron densities. This offers the possibility to study the structure of KS potentials (steps, peaks) and to relate this structure to electron correlation. More importantly, given exact Kohn-Sham potentials and orbitals it is possible to construct an exchange-correlation energy density that will, after integration over space, yield the exact exchange-correlation energy. It is possible to relate the local features of the exact energy density to aspects of electron correlation. The exact energy density may be used to judge existing model exchange-correlation energy densities and hopefully it will be helpful to devise improvements.
- OSTI ID:
- 447588
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960343-; TRN: 97:005482
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. international congress on theoretical chemical physics, New Orleans, LA (United States), 9-13 Mar 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Second international congress on theoretical chemical physics - ICTCP II; PB: 90 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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