Self-consistent density matrix algorithm for electronic structure and excitations of molecules and aggregates

Abstract

An ab initio density matrix algorithm for electronic structure computations of many-electron systems is proposed. The reduced single-electron density matrices are derived by mapping the density functional theory nonlinear optical response functions onto an effective multilevel system. These density matrices are then used as a zeroth order iteration into self-consistent equations whose solution should yield the exact energies and the complete set of (transition and diagonal) single-electron density matrices. Higher order (n electron) density matrices are not computed explicitly. The linear and nonlinear optical response functions may be obtained at a low computational cost. Application is made to constructing an exciton Hamiltonian for molecular aggregates using density matrices of isolated molecules, avoiding electronic structure calculations of the entire aggregate.