Thomas–Fermi approach to density functional theory: binding energy for atomic systems

Abstract

In this work, we re-examine the Thomas–Fermi formalism as an approach to the calculation of atomic binding energies. We focus on the concept of electron density as the central magnitude, and the way in which the different contributions to the total energy can be evaluated from it. Total energies of simple atoms (Z = 2 to 10) are calculated using three different analytical approximations for the electronic density, and the results are compared with those obtained within the Hartree–Fock model.