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International Journal of Modern Physics B

KEY CONCEPTS IN TIME-DEPENDENT DENSITY-FUNCTIONAL THEORY

Robert van Leeuwen

Published Jun 10, 2001• 357 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We give an overview of the underlying concepts of time-dependent density-functional theory. The basic relations between densities, potentials and initial states, for time-dependent many-body systems are discussed. We obtain some new results concerning the invertability of response functions. Some fundamental difficulties associated with the time-dependent action principle are discussed and we show how these difficulties can be resolved by means of the Keldysh formalism.

DOI
10.1142/s021797920100499x

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We give an overview of the underlying concepts of time-dependent density-functional theory. The basic relations between densities, potentials and initial states, for time-dependent many-body systems are discussed. We obtain some new results concerning the invertability of response functions. Some fundamental difficulties associated with the time-dependent action principle are discussed and we show how these difficulties can be resolved by means of the Keldysh formalism.
This paper gives an introduction to the Keldysh formalism, with emphasis on its usefulness in time-dependent density functional theory. In the first part we introduce the Keldysh contour and the one-particle Green function defined on this contour. We then discuss how to combine and manipulate functions with time-arguments on the contour. The effects of electron-electron interaction can be taken systematically into account, as we illustrate by propagating the Kadanoff-Baym equations for the second-order self-energy approximation. It is important to use conserving approximations such that the evolution of the electron density, momentum, and total energy agrees with the macroscopic conservation laws. One of the main topics in this paper is the non-interacting Green function, which is the relevant quantity for time-dependent density functional theory. We discuss this Green function in detail, and show how the Keldysh contour in a simple way allows us to derive the time-dependent Kohn-Sham potential from an action functional. The formalism in a similar way leads to response functions that obey the causality principle. To illustrate these points, we discuss the time-dependent optimized effective potential equations.
We resolve an existing paradox regarding the causality and symmetry properties of response functions within time-dependent density-functional theory. We do this by defining a new action functional within the Keldysh formalism. By functional differentiation the new functional leads to response functions which are symmetric in the Keldysh time contour parameter, but which become causal when a transition to physical time is made. The new functional is further used to derive the equations of the time-dependent optimized potential method.
A density-functional formalism comparable to the Hohenberg-Kohn-Sham theory of the ground state is developed for arbitrary time-dependent systems. It is proven that the single-particle potential $v(\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}t)$ leading to a given vvv-representable density $n(\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}t)$ is uniquely determined so that the corresponding map $v\ensuremath{\rightarrow}n$ is invertible. On the basis of this theorem, three schemes are derived to calculate the density: a set of hydrodynamical equations, a stationary action principle, and an effective single-particle Schr\"odinger equation.
We have considered application the Keldysh formalism in time-dependent \ndensity functional theory. It is shown that effects of electron-electron interaction can \nbe taken systematically into account in the framework of the Kadanoff-Baym \nequations for Green functions determined on the Keldysh contour for the second-order \n47 \nself-energy approximation. With the help of these Green functions we have derived \nthe time-dependent Kohn-Sham potential from an action functional. The Keldysh \nformalism in a similar way leads to response functions that obey the causality \nprinciple that is illustrated on the case of the time-dependent optimized effective \npotential equations.
The Runge-Gross [E. Runge and E. K. U. Gross, Phys. Rev. Lett. 52, 997 (1984)] action functional of time-dependent density-functional theory leads to a well-known causality paradox; that is, a perturbation of the electronic density in the future affects the response of the system in the present. This paradox is known to be caused by an inconsistent application of the Dirac-Frenkel variational principle. In view of the recent solutions to this problem, the action functional employed by Runge and Gross in their formulation of time-dependent density-functional theory is analyzed in the context of the Keldysh contour technique. The time-dependent electronic density and the concept of causality are extended to the contour. We derive a variational equation that obeys causality and relates the exchange-correlation potential with its kernel and the functional derivative of the exchange-correlation action functional with respect to the density. It is shown that the adiabatic local-density approximation is a consistent solution of this equation and that the time-dependent optimized potential method can also be derived from it. The formalism presented here can be used to find new approximation methods for the exchange-correlation potential and to avoid the causality dilemma.