A proposal concerning terminology in reduced density matrix theory

Jerzy Ciosłowski

Preface. I: Properties of Reduced Density Matrices. 1. RDMs: How Did We Get Here? A.J. Coleman. 2. Some Theorems on Uniqueness and Reconstruction of Higher-Order Density Matrices M. Rosina. 3. Cumulant Expansions of Reduced Densities, Reduced Density Matrices, and Green's Functions P. Ziesche. 4. On Calculating Approximate and Exact Density Matrices R. Erdahl, B. Jin. II: The Contracted Schroedinger Equation. 5. Density Equation Theory in Chemical Physics H. Nakatsuji. 6. Critical Questions Concerning Iterative Solution of the Contracted Schroedinger Equation C. Valdemoro, L.M. Tel, E. Perez-Romero 7. Cumulants and the Contracted Schroedinger Equation D.A. Mazziotti.. III: Density Matrix Functional Theory. 8. Natural Orbital Functional Theory S. Goedecker, C.J. Umrigar. 9. The Pair Density in Approximate Density Functional Theory: The Hidden Agent N.T. Maitra, K. Burke. 10. Functional N-representability in Density Matrix and Density Functional Theory: An Illustration for Hooke's Atom E.V. Ludena, V. Karasiev, A. Artemiev, D. Gomez.. IV: Electron Intracule and Extracule Densities. 11. Intracule and Extracule Densities: Historical Perspectives and Future Prospects E. Valderrama, J.M. Ugalde, R.J. Boyd. 12. Topology of Electron Correlation J. Cioslowski. 13. Electron-Pair Densities of Atoms T. Koga. Index.

Eugene S. Kryachko

Nicolas G. Cartier, Klaas J. H. Giesbertz

Many electronic structure methods rely on the minimization of the energy of the system with respect to the one-body reduced density matrix (1-RDM). To formulate a minimization algorithm, the 1-RDM is often expressed in terms of its eigenvectors via an orthonormal transformation and its eigenvalues. This transformation drastically alters the energy landscape. Especially in 1-RDM functional theory this means that the convexity of the energy functional is lost. We show that degeneracies in the occupation numbers can lead to additional critical points which are classified as saddle points. Using a Cayley or Householder parametrization for the orthonormal transformation, no extra critical points arise. In the case of Given's rotations or the exponential, additional critical points can arise, which are of no concern in practical minimization. These findings provide an explanation for the success of recent minimization procedures using second-order information.

Karl Blum

Iris Theophilou, Nektarios N. Lathiotakis, N. Helbig

We consider necessary conditions for the one-body reduced density matrix (1RDM) to correspond to a triplet wave function of a two-electron system. The conditions concern the occupation numbers and are different for the high spin projections, Sz = ±1, and the Sz = 0 projection. Hence, they can be used to test if an approximate 1RDM functional yields the same energies for both projections. We employ these conditions in reduced density matrix functional theory calculations for the triplet excitations of two-electron systems. In addition, we propose that these conditions can be used in the calculation of triplet states of systems with more than two electrons by restricting the active space. We assess this procedure in calculations for a few atomic and molecular systems. We show that the quality of the optimal 1RDMs improves by applying the conditions in all the cases we studied.