The construction of density-functional approximations is explored by modeling the adiabatic connection locally, using energy densities defined in terms of the electrostatic potential of the exchange–correlation hole. These local models are more amenable to the construction of size-consistent approximations than their global counterparts. In this work we use accurate input local ingredients to assess the accuracy of a range of local interpolation models against accurate exchange–correlation energy densities. The importance of the strictly correlated electrons (SCE) functional describing the strong coupling limit is emphasized, enabling the corresponding interpolated functionals to treat strong correlation effects. In addition to exploring the performance of such models numerically for the helium and beryllium isoelectronic series and the dissociation of the hydrogen molecule, an approximate analytic model is presented for the initial slope of the local adiabatic connection. Comparisons are made with approaches based on global models, and prospects for future approximations based on the local adiabatic connection are discussed.

We investigate the construction of approximated exchange-correlation functionals by interpolating locally along the adiabatic connection between the weak- and the strong-coupling regimes, focussing on the effect of using approximate functionals for the strong-coupling energy densities. The gauge problem is avoided by dealing with quantities that are all locally defined in the same way. Using exact ingredients at weak coupling we are able to isolate the error coming from the approximations at strong coupling only. We find that the nonlocal radius model, which retains some of the non-locality of the exact strong-coupling regime, yields very satisfactory results. We also use interpolation models and quantities from the weak- and strong-coupling regimes to define a correlation-type indicator and a lower bound to the exact exchange-correlation energy. Open problems, related to the nature of the local and global slope of the adiabatic connection at weak coupling, are also discussed.

The use of London atomic orbitals (LAOs) in a nonperturbative manner enables the determination of gauge-origin invariant energies and properties for molecular species in arbitrarily strong magnetic fields. Central to the efficient implementation of such calculations for molecular systems is the evaluation of molecular integrals, particularly the electron repulsion integrals (ERIs). We present an implementation of several different algorithms for the evaluation of ERIs over Gaussian-type LAOs at arbitrary magnetic field strengths. The efficiencies of generalized McMurchie-Davidson (MD), Head-Gordon-Pople (HGP), and Rys quadrature schemes are compared. For the Rys quadrature implementation, we avoid the use of high precision arithmetic and interpolation schemes in the computation of the quadrature roots and weights, enabling the application of this algorithm seamlessly to a wide range of magnetic fields. The efficiency of each generalized algorithm is compared by numerical application, classifying the ERIs according to their total angular momenta and evaluating their performance for primitive and contracted basis sets. In common with zero-field integral evaluation, no single algorithm is optimal for all angular momenta; thus, a simple mixed scheme is put forward that selects the most efficient approach to calculate the ERIs for each shell quartet. The mixed approach is significantly more efficient than the exclusive use of any individual algorithm.

A suite of tools for the analysis of magnetically induced currents is introduced.These are applicable to both the weak-field regime, well described by linear response perturbation theory, and to the high-field regime, which is inaccessible to such methods.A disc-based quadrature scheme is proposed for the analysis of magnetically induced current susceptibilities, providing quadratures that are consistently defined between different molecular systems and applicable to both planar 2D and general 3D molecular systems in a black-box manner. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated for a range of planar ring systems, the ground and excited states of the benzene molecule and the ring, bowl and cage isomers of the C 20 molecule in the presence of a weak magnetic field. In the presence of a strong magnetic field, the para-to dia-magnetic transition of the BH molecule is studied, demonstrating that magnetically induced currents present a visual interpretation of this phenomenon, providing insight beyond that accessible using linear-response methods.

An efficient implementation of geometrical derivatives at the Hartree–Fock (HF) and current-density functional theory (CDFT) levels is presented for the study of molecular structure in strong magnetic fields. The required integral derivatives are constructed using a hybrid McMurchie–Davidson and Rys quadrature approach, which combines the amenability of the former to the evaluation of derivative integrals with the efficiency of the latter for basis sets with high angular momentum. In addition to its application to evaluating derivatives of four-center integrals, this approach is also applied to gradients using the resolution-of-the-identity approximation, enabling efficient optimization of molecular structure for many-electron systems under a strong magnetic field. The CDFT contributions have been implemented for a wide range of density functionals up to and including the meta-GGA level with current-density dependent contributions and (range-separated) hybrids for the first time. Illustrative applications are presented to the OH and benzene molecules, revealing the rich and complex chemistry induced by the presence of an external magnetic field. Challenges for geometry optimization in strong fields are highlighted, along with the requirement for careful analysis of the resulting electronic structure at each stationary point. The importance of correlation effects is examined by comparison of results at the HF and CDFT levels. The present implementation of molecular gradients at the CDFT level provides a cost-effective approach to the study of molecular structure under strong magnetic fields, opening up many new possibilities for the study of chemistry in this regime.

An implementation of real-time time-dependent Hartree–Fock (RT-TDHF) and current density functional theory (RT-TDCDFT) for molecules in strong uniform magnetic fields is presented. In contrast to earlier implementations, the present work enables the use of the RT-TDCDFT formalism, which explicitly includes field-dependent terms in the exchange–correlation functional. A range of current-dependent exchange–correlation functionals based on the TPSS functional are considered, including a range-separated variant, which is particularly suitable for application to excited state calculations. The performance of a wide range of propagator algorithms for real-time methods is investigated in this context. A recently proposed molecular orbital pair decomposition analysis allows for assignment of electronic transitions, providing detailed information about which molecular orbitals are involved in each excitation. The application of these methods is demonstrated for the electronic absorption spectra of N 2 and H 2 O both in the absence and in the presence of a magnetic field. The dependence of electronic spectra on the magnetic field strength and its orientation relative to the molecule is studied. The complex evolution of the absorption spectra with magnetic field is rationalized using the molecular orbital pair decomposition analysis, which provides crucial insight in strong fields where the spectra are radically different from their zero-field counterparts.

An extension of Conceptual DFT to include the influence of an external magnetic field is proposed in the context of a program set up to cope with the ever increasing...

The exchange-correlation energy, central to density-functional theory (DFT), may be represented in terms of the coupling-constant averaged (CCA) exchange-correlation energy density. We present an approach to calculate the CCA energy density using accurate ab initio methods and its application to simple atomic systems. This function provides a link between intrinsically non-local, many-body electronic structure methods and simple local and semi-local density-functional approximations (DFAs). The CCA energy density is resolved into separate exchange and correlation terms and the features of each compared with those of quantities commonly used to construct DFAs. In particular, the more complex structure of the correlation energy density is found to exhibit features that align well with those present in the Laplacian of the density, suggesting its role as a key variable to be used in the construction of improved semi-local correlation functionals. The accurate results presented in this work are also compared with those provided by the Laplacian-dependent Becke-Roussel model for the exchange energy.