Relativistic Density Functional Theory

Abstract

In these lectures on relativistic density functional theory I had the choice to provide a kind of survey, or to concentrate on a few specific aspects in greater detail. I chose the first option. In order to give you the opportunity to fill in the (often gory) details, I will distribute a list of references, augmented by suitable comments on the contents of the papers cited. In my lectures I will cover the topics: 1. Introduction, giving a brief summary of why one should work with quantum electrodynamics (QED) if one is interested in the density functional theory of relativistic Coulomb systems. 2. Foundation, containing some comments on the relativistic Hohenberg-Kohn theorem and indicating how the exact (but not easily solvable) relativistic Kohn-Sham equations (containing radiative corrections and all that) can be reduced to the standard approximate variant. 3. Functionals, with a mini-survey of the relativistic functionals that have been considered. The headings are well known from the non-relativistic case: LDA, GGA, OPM, etc. 4. Results, giving an indication of the performance of these functionals for a number of systems (mainly atoms) and a brief statement on some particular systems (molecules, solids). A few words are also necessary concerning notation. Relativistic units with = c = 1 ; m 0 = m ; e. will be used. This choice is debatable (e.g., if one considers expansions in 1/c), but in general use. I shall use the standard conventions of relativistic