A Polarization Propagator for Nonlinear X-ray Spectroscopies.

Abstract

A complex polarization propagator approach has been developed to third order and implemented in density functional theory (DFT), allowing for the direct calculation of nonlinear molecular properties in the X-ray wavelength regime without explicitly addressing the excited-state manifold. We demonstrate the utility of this propagator method for the modeling of coherent near-edge X-ray two-photon absorption using, as an example, DFT as the underlying electronic structure model. Results are compared with the corresponding near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectra, illuminating the differences in the role of symmetry, localization, and correlation between the two spectroscopies. The ramifications of this new technique for nonlinear X-ray research are briefly discussed.