Abstract
The starting point of this paper is a recent extension by Theophilou of the Hohenberg-Kohn-Sham (HKS) density-functional theory to ensembles of systems consisting of the M lowest eigenstates, equally weighted. As in the HKS theory the key quantities are the exchange-correlation energy, ExcM[n(r)], and potential, vxcM(r;[n(r)]). The present paper provides expressions for these quantities, valid for systems of slowly varying density. Even for such systems, however, there are essential nonlocal effects. Nevertheless both ExcM and vxcM can be calculated in terms of quantities characteristic of appropriate uniform thermal ensembles. This theory is the analog of the ground-state local-density approximation and allows calculation of excited-state energies and densities.