Extension of Second-Principles Density Functional Theory into the time domain

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Fernández-Ruiz, Toraya, Íñiguez, Jorge, Junquera, Javier, García-Fernández, Pablo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Fernández-Ruiz, Toraya
Íñiguez, Jorge
Junquera, Javier
García-Fernández, Pablo
author_facet Fernández-Ruiz, Toraya
Íñiguez, Jorge
Junquera, Javier
García-Fernández, Pablo
contents We present an extension of the second-principles density functional theory (SPDFT) method to perform time-dependent simulations. Our approach, which calculates the evolution of the density matrix in real time and real space using the Liouville-von Neumann equation of motion, allows determining optical and transport properties for very large systems, involving tens of thousands of atoms, using very modest computational platforms. In contrast with other methods, we show that SPDFT can be applied to a wide variety of materials including both metals and insulators. In particular, we illustrate its capabilities by obtaining the spectra of SrTiO$_3$, diamond and metallic lithium. We find that, while SPDFT results in SrTiO$_3$ are quite similar to those obtained from DFT using linear perturbation theory, we observe significant improvements over this method in both diamond and metallic lithium. The inclusion of electron-electron interactions during the evolution of the density matrix in diamond allows the spectra to more closely resemble those obtained with the Bethe-Salpeter equation than from perturbation theory. In lithium time-dependent SPDFT not only predicts interband transitions but also the Drude peak, opening the possibility of detailed ab initio studies of transport properties beyond many of the usual approximations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_13824
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Extension of Second-Principles Density Functional Theory into the time domain
Fernández-Ruiz, Toraya
Íñiguez, Jorge
Junquera, Javier
García-Fernández, Pablo
Materials Science
Other Condensed Matter
We present an extension of the second-principles density functional theory (SPDFT) method to perform time-dependent simulations. Our approach, which calculates the evolution of the density matrix in real time and real space using the Liouville-von Neumann equation of motion, allows determining optical and transport properties for very large systems, involving tens of thousands of atoms, using very modest computational platforms. In contrast with other methods, we show that SPDFT can be applied to a wide variety of materials including both metals and insulators. In particular, we illustrate its capabilities by obtaining the spectra of SrTiO$_3$, diamond and metallic lithium. We find that, while SPDFT results in SrTiO$_3$ are quite similar to those obtained from DFT using linear perturbation theory, we observe significant improvements over this method in both diamond and metallic lithium. The inclusion of electron-electron interactions during the evolution of the density matrix in diamond allows the spectra to more closely resemble those obtained with the Bethe-Salpeter equation than from perturbation theory. In lithium time-dependent SPDFT not only predicts interband transitions but also the Drude peak, opening the possibility of detailed ab initio studies of transport properties beyond many of the usual approximations.
title Extension of Second-Principles Density Functional Theory into the time domain
topic Materials Science
Other Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.13824