Density Cumulant Functional Theory

Alexander Yuryevich Sokolov

P. Ziesche

Abstract The cumulant 2‐matrix χ is that part of the two‐body reduced density matrix γ2, which cannot be reduced to products of the one‐body reduced density matrix (1‐matrix) γ. This irreducible part χ is calculated perturbatively for the high‐density electron gas (EG) in its ground state, such that the pair densities and the interaction energy are correctly reproduced in their high‐density limits, which are exactly known and summarized here. From the thus available cumulant 2‐matrix the pair density in momentum space can be derived and used for a fluctuation analysis and compared with the analog analysis in position space, where it is concluded that “correlation suppresses fluctuations”. The perturbatively available cumulant 2‐matrix χ can be used also for the high‐density electron gas to start the iterative solution of the Yasuda integral equation of density matrix functional theory (DMFT), which is a nonlinear functional relation between the cumulant 2‐matrix χ and the 1‐matrix γ recently derived from the contracted Schrödinger equation approach: χY[γ]. From the perturbatively determined χ one can find another functional χ[γ] as an alternative approximation for a DMFT. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002

P. Ziesche

Attempts to generalize the density functional theory are summarized.A possible pair density functional theory is linked to the Overhauser parametrization of the electrongas pair density.The importance of the cumulant partitioning is stressed and a modified Overhauser approach for the cumulant 2-body reduced density matrix, the contraction of which determines the 1-body reduced density matrix, is discussed.

Viraht Sahni

Jonathon P. Misiewicz, Justin M. Turney, Henry F. Schaefer

Reduced density matrix cumulants play key roles in the theory of both reduced density matrices and multiconfigurational normal ordering. We present a new, simpler generating function for reduced density matrix cumulants that is formally identical with equating the coupled cluster and configuration interaction ansätze. This is shown to be a general mechanism to convert between a multiplicatively separable quantity and an additively separable quantity, as defined by a set of axioms. It is shown that both the cumulants of probability theory and the reduced density matrices are entirely combinatorial constructions, where the differences can be associated with changes in the notion of "multiplicative separability" for expectation values of random variables compared to reduced density matrices. We compare our generating function to that of previous works and criticize previous claims of probabilistic significance of the reduced density matrix cumulants. Finally, we present a simple proof of the generalized normal ordering formalism to explore the role of reduced density matrix cumulants therein. While the formalism can be used without cumulants, the combinatorial structure of expressing RDMs in terms of cumulants is the same combinatorial structure on cumulants that allows for a simple extended generalized Wick's theorem.

Valerii Chuiko, Paul W. Ayers, Eduard Matito

Accurate modeling of bond breaking remains a central challenge for reduced density matrix functional theory (RDMFT). Although some modern functionals can yield reasonably accurate dissociation energies, they often fail to reproduce key properties of the dissociated fragments, such as a vanishing fragment population covariance (also known as the delocalization index) and the correct total spin angular momentum of each fragment (local spin). In this work, we revisit the construction of natural orbital functionals by correcting the cumulant contribution produced by the PNOF5 functional. Our method enforces known contributions of the cumulant to local spin fragments and the delocalization index at the dissociation limit. We obtain the closest cumulant consistent with these physically motivated constraints and subsequently purify the corresponding one- and two-electron reduced density matrices by imposing the standard $P, Q, \text{and } G$ $N$-representability conditions. The resulting functional yields improved behavior in strongly correlated regimes. Benchmarking on the dissociation of the singlet states of \ce{N2}, \ce{NO+}, \ce{O2}, \ce{S2}, and \ce{CO} shows that in the dissociation regime the energies computed from the updated cumulant exactly reproduce the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) energies. We further analyze the limitations of the approach and identify scenarios in which the current approach performs poorly. This work provides a pathway for systematically improving natural orbital functionals to achieve reliable bond-breaking calculations within RDMFT.