Time-dependent orbital-free density functional theory (DFT) is an efficient method for calculating the dynamic properties of large-scale quantum systems due to the low computational cost compared to standard time-dependent DFT. We formalize this method by mapping the real system of interacting fermions onto a fictitious system of noninteracting bosons. The dynamic Pauli potential and associated kernel emerge as key ingredients of time-dependent orbital-free DFT. Using the uniform electron gas as a model system, we derive an approximate frequency-dependent Pauli kernel. Pilot calculations suggest that space nonlocality is a key feature for this kernel. Nonlocal terms arise already in the second-order expansion with respect to unitless frequency and reciprocal space variable ($\frac{\ensuremath{\omega}}{q\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{k}_{F}}$ and
2kFq, respectively). Given the encouraging performance of the proposed kernel, we expect it will lead to more accurate orbital-free DFT simulations of nanoscale systems out of equilibrium. Additionally, the proposed path to formulate nonadiabatic Pauli kernels presents several avenues for further improvements which can be exploited in future work to improve the results.
Given the time-evolution of an electron charge density, the local potential in Kohn-Sham time-dependent density functional theory (KS-TDDFT) can be modeled as a sum of instantaneous and dynamic contributions by assuming a certain form of the time-dependent Kohn-Sham (TD-KS) orbitals. The instantaneous part is obtained numerically using methods from ground-state density functional theory (DFT) and the dynamic part is expressed in terms of a velocity potential that depends on the electron current density. The suggested form of the TD-KS orbitals satisfies several known constraints (orthonormality, N-representability, J-representability), and the domain of validity is shown to depend on the evolution of the instantaneous quantities. Through this decomposition, we can relate time-dependent and ground -state V-representability. The resulting potentials are shown numerically to approximate the exact time-dependent Kohn-Sham potentials for a set of 3 non-singlet two-particle systems (a Kohn-mode, a Coulomb explosion, and a double quantum well) where the exact solutions and reference densities are known or obtained through configuration interaction (CI) approaches.