arXiv subjects

Lukas Konecny

Publications and source records attributed to Lukas Konecny.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Toward Accurate RIXS Spectra at Heavy Element Edges: A Relativistic Four-Component and Exact Two-Component TDDFT Approach

We present a relativistic time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) approach for the simulation of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra, based on both a full four-component (4c) Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian and a modern atomic mean-field exact two-component (amfX2C) Hamiltonian model. The approach builds on the pseudo-wavefunction formalism and a core-valence separation scheme, enabling the efficient evaluation of couplings between two manifolds of excited states relative to a common ground state, as required for solving the Kramers-Heisenberg equation for RIXS. The relativistic formulation provides a variational description of scalar and spin-orbit relativistic effects, which are essential for accurately describing inner-shell excitations involved in RIXS processes. Its transformation to the 2c regime via the amfX2C Hamiltonian significantly reduces the computational cost while offering 4c-quality results by accounting for two-electron and exchange-correlation picture-change effects arising from the X2C transformation. In addition to two-dimensional RIXS maps, the methodology enables the direct evaluation of high-energy-resolution fluorescence detection (HERFD) and resonant X-ray emission spectra (RXES). Applications to 2p3d and 3d4f RIXS maps of selected ruthenium and uranium complexes demonstrate that the amfX2C approach reproduces reference 4c results and experimental spectra with high accuracy, capturing all key spectral features and providing reliable peak assignments.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Light-Induced Persistent Electronic Chirality in Achiral Molecules Probed with Time-Resolved Electronic Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy

Chiral systems exhibit unique properties traditionally linked to their asymmetric spatial arrangement. Recently, multiple laser pulses were shown to induce purely electronic chiral states without altering the nuclear configuration. Here, we propose and numerically demonstrate a simpler realization of light-induced electronic chirality that is long-lived and occurs well before the onset of nuclear motion and decoherence. A single monochromatic circularly-polarized laser pulse is shown to induce electronic chiral currents in an oriented achiral molecule. Using state-of-the-art ab initio theory, we analyze this effect and relate the chiral currents to induced magnetic dipole moments, detectable via attosecond time-resolved electronic circular dichroism (TR-ECD) spectroscopy, also known as transient absorption ECD. The resulting chiral electronic wavepacket oscillates rapidly in handedness at harmonics of the pump laser's carrier frequency, and the currents persist after the pulse ends. We establish a chiral molecular-current analogue to high harmonic generation, and demonstrate attosecond transient chirality control with potential impact on spintronics and reaction dynamics.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Linear-Response Quantum-Electrodynamical Density Functional Theory Based on Two-Component X2C Hamiltonians

Linear-response quantum electrodynamical density functional theory (QEDFT) enables the description of molecular spectra under strong coupling to quantized photonic modes, such as those in optical cavities. Recently, this approach was extended to the relativistic domain using the four-component Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian. To provide a computationally efficient yet accurate alternative-particularly for modeling 2D spectra or collective coupling for large, heavy-element systems-this article introduces a two-component linear-response QEDFT method based on exact two-component (X2C) Hamiltonian models. We derive how the parent four-component Hamiltonian for coupled electron-photon systems undergoes the X2C transformation. Moreover, we show that, under common weak-field and dipole approximations, it suffices to apply the X2C transformation only during the ground-state self-consistent field procedure, with the subsequent calculations performed fully in the two-component regime using the same X2C decoupling matrix. The current implementation includes the atomic mean-field (amfX2C), extended atomic mean-field (eamfX2C), and molecular mean-field (mmfX2C) Hamiltonian models. Benchmark calculations demonstrate that the X2C approach closely reproduces reference four-component results, enabling us to efficiently tackle systems that would be otherwise computationally too expensive. As applications, we compute 2D spectra of a mercury porphyrin complex in a Fabry-Perot cavity, demonstrating off-resonant coupling and the appearance of multiple polaritonic branches. We also study a chain of AuH molecules, showing that collective coupling can locally modify chemical properties of a molecule with a perturbed bond length.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

X2C Hamiltonian Models in ReSpect: Bridging Accuracy and Efficiency

Since its inception, the ReSpect program has been evolving to provide powerful tools for simulating spectroscopic processes and exploring emerging research areas, all while incorporating relativistic effects, particularly spin-orbit interactions, in a fully variational manner. Recent developments have focused on exact two-component (X2C) Hamiltonian models that go beyond the standard one-electron X2C approach by incorporating two-electron picture-change corrections. This paper presents the theoretical foundations of two distinct atomic mean-field X2C models, amfX2C and extended eamfX2C, which offer computationally efficient and accurate alternatives to fully relativistic four-component methods. These models enable simulations of complex phenomena, such as time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopies and cavity-modified molecular properties, which would otherwise be computationally prohibitive. ReSpect continues to evolve, providing state-of-the-art quantum chemical methods and post-processing tools, all available free of charge through our website, www.respectprogram.org, to support researchers exploring relativistic effects across various scientific disciplines.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2024

Relativistic Linear Response in Quantum-Electrodynamical Density Functional Theory

We present the theoretical derivation and numerical implementation of the linear response equations for relativistic quantum electrodynamical density functional theory (QEDFT). In contrast to previous works based on the Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonian, our approach describes electrons interacting with photonic cavity modes at the four-component Dirac-Kohn-Sham level, derived from fully relativistic QED through a series of established approximations. Moreover, we show that a new type of spin-orbit-like (SO) cavity-mediated interaction appears under the relativistic description of the coupling of matter with quantized cavity modes. Benchmark calculations performed for atoms of group 12 elements (Zn, Cd, Hg) demonstrate how a relativistic treatment enables the description of exciton polaritons which arise from the hybridization of formally forbidden singlet-triplet transitions with cavity modes. For atoms in cavities tuned on resonance with a singlet-triplet transition we discover a significant interplay between SO effects and coupling to an off-resonant intense singlet-singlet transition. This dynamic relationship highlights the crucial role of ab initio approaches in understanding cavity quantum electrodynamics. Finally, using the mercury porphyrin complex as an example, we show that relativistic linear response QEDFT provides computationally feasible first-principles calculations of polaritonic states in large heavy element-containing molecules of chemical interest.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

Cost-Efficient High-Resolution Linear Absorption Spectra Through Extrapolating the Dipole Moment from Real-Time Time-Dependent Electronic-Structure Theory

We present a novel function fitting method for approximating the propagation of the time-dependent electric dipole moment from real-time electronic structure calculations. Real-time calculations of the electronic absorption spectrum require discrete Fourier transforms of the electric dipole moment. The spectral resolution is determined by the total propagation time, i.e. the trajectory length of the dipole moment, causing a high computational cost. Our developed method uses function fitting on shorter trajectories of the dipole moment, achieving arbitrary spectral resolution through extrapolation. Numerical testing shows that the fitting method can reproduce high-resolution spectra using short dipole trajectories. The method converges with as little as 100 a.u. dipole trajectories for some systems, though the difficulty converging increases with the spectral density. We also introduce an error estimate of the fit, reliably assessing its convergence and hence the quality of the approximated spectrum.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

Relativistic Real-Time Methods

Recent advances in laser technology enable to follow electronic motion at its natural time-scale with ultrafast pulses, leading the way towards atto- and femtosecond spectroscopic experiments of unprecedented resolution. Understanding of these laser-driven processes, which almost inevitably involve non-linear light-matter interactions and non-equilibrium electron dynamics, is challenging and requires a common effort of theory and experiment. Real-time electronic structure methods provide the most straightforward way to simulate experiments and to gain insights into non-equilibrium electronic processes. In this Chapter, we summarize the fundamental theory underlying the relativistic particle-field interaction Hamiltonian as well as equation-of-motion for exact-state wave function in terms of the one- and two-electron reduced density matrix. Further, we discuss the relativistic real-time electron dynamics mean-field methods with an emphasis on Density-Functional Theory and Gaussian basis, starting from the four-component (Dirac) picture and continue to the two-component (Pauli) picture, where we introduce various flavours of modern exact two-component (X2C) Hamiltonians for real-time electron dynamics. We also overview several numerical techniques for real-time propagation and signal processing in quantum electron dynamics. We close this Chapter by listing selected applications of real-time electron dynamics to frequency-resolved and time-resolved spectroscopies.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

Accurate Relativistic Real-Time Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory for Valence and Core Attosecond Transient Absorption Spectroscopy

First principle theoretical modeling of out-of-equilibrium processes observed in attosecond pump-probe transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) triggering pure electron dynamics remains a challenging task, specially for heavy elements and/or core excitations containing fingerprints of scalar and spin-orbit relativistic effects. To address this, we formulate a methodology for simulating TAS within the relativistic real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) framework, for both the valence and core energy regime. Especially for TAS, full four-component (4c) RT simulations are feasible but computationally demanding. Therefore, in addition to the 4c approach, we also introduce the atomic mean-field exact two-component (amfX2C) Hamiltonian accounting for one- and two-electron picture-change corrections within RT-TDDFT. amfX2C preserves the accuracy of the parent 4c method at a fraction of its computational cost. Finally, we apply the methodology to study valence and near L$_{2,3}$-edge TAS processes of experimentally relevant systems and provide additional physical insights using relativistic non-equilibrium response theory.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2023

Exact two-component TDDFT with simple two-electron picture-change corrections: X-ray absorption spectra near L- and M-edges of four-component quality at two-component cost

X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has gained popularity in recent years as it probes matter with high spatial and elemental sensitivity. However, the theoretical modelling of XAS is a challenging task since XAS spectra feature a fine structure due to scalar (SC) and spin-orbit (SO) relativistic effects, in particular near L and M absorption edges. While full four-component (4c) calculations of XAS are nowadays feasible, there is still interest in developing approximate relativistic methods that enable XAS calculations at the two-component (2c) level while maintaining the accuracy of the parent 4c approach. In this article we present theoretical and numerical insights into two simple yet accurate 2c approaches based on an (extended) atomic mean-field exact two-component Hamiltonian framework, (e)amfX2C, for the calculation of XAS using linear eigenvalue and damped-response time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). In contrast to the commonly used one-electron X2C (1eX2C) Hamiltonian, both amfX2C and eamfX2C account for the SC and SO two-electron and exchange-correlation picture-change (PC) effects that arise from the X2C transformation. As we demonstrate on L- and M-edge XAS spectra of transition metal and actinide compounds, the absence of PC corrections in the 1eX2C approximation results in a substantial overestimatation of SO splittings, whereas (e)amfX2C Hamiltonians reproduce all essential spectral features such as shape, position, and SO splitting of the 4c references in excellent agreement, while offering significant computational savings. Therefore, the (e)amfX2C PC correction models presented here constitute reliable relativistic 2c quantum-chemical approaches for modelling XAS.

physics.chem-ph↗