The recently proposed rSCAN functional [J. Chem. Phys.2019150161101] is a regularized form of the SCAN functional [Phys. Rev. Lett.2015115036402] that improves SCAN’s numerical performance at the expense of breaking constraints known from the exact exchange–correlation functional. We construct a new meta-generalized gradient approximation by restoring exact constraint adherence to rSCAN. The resulting functional maintains rSCAN’s numerical performance while restoring the transferable accuracy of SCAN.

We present a novel implementation of Kohn-Sham density-functional theory utilizing London atomic orbitals as basis functions. External magnetic fields are treated non-perturbatively, which enable the study of both magnetic response properties and the effects of strong fields, using either standard density functionals or current-density functionals-the implementation is the first fully self-consistent implementation of the latter for molecules. Pilot applications are presented for the finite-field calculation of molecular magnetizabilities, hypermagnetizabilities, and nuclear magnetic resonance shielding constants, focusing on the impact of current-density functionals on the accuracy of the results. Existing current-density functionals based on the gauge-invariant vorticity are tested and found to be sensitive to numerical details of their implementation. Furthermore, when appropriately regularized, the resulting magnetic properties show no improvement over standard density-functional results. An advantage of the present implementation is the ability to apply density-functional theory to molecules in very strong magnetic fields, where the perturbative approach breaks down. Comparison with high accuracy full-configuration-interaction results show that the inadequacies of current-density approximations are exacerbated with increasing magnetic field strength. Standard density-functionals remain well behaved but fail to deliver high accuracy. The need for improved current-dependent density-functionals, and how they may be tested using the presented implementation, is discussed in light of our findings.

We present the self-consistent implementation of current-dependent (hybrid) meta-generalized gradient approximation (mGGA) density functionals using London atomic orbitals. A previously proposed generalized kinetic energy density is utilized to implement mGGAs in the framework of Kohn-Sham current density functional theory (KS-CDFT). A unique feature of the nonperturbative implementation of these functionals is the ability to seamlessly explore a wide range of magnetic fields up to 1 au (∼235 kT) in strength. CDFT functionals based on the TPSS and B98 forms are investigated, and their performance is assessed by comparison with accurate coupled-cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples (CCSD(T)) data. In the weak field regime, magnetic properties such as magnetizabilities and nuclear magnetic resonance shielding constants show modest but systematic improvements over generalized gradient approximations (GGA). However, in the strong field regime, the mGGA-based forms lead to a significantly improved description of the recently proposed perpendicular paramagnetic bonding mechanism, comparing well with CCSD(T) data. In contrast to functionals based on the vorticity, these forms are found to be numerically stable, and their accuracy at high field suggests that the extension of mGGAs to CDFT via the generalized kinetic energy density should provide a useful starting point for further development of CDFT approximations.

A first-principles density-functional description of the electronic structures of the high-T c cuprates has remained a long-standing problem since their discovery in 1986, with calculations failing to capture either the insulating (magnetic) state of the pristine compound or the transition from the insulating to metallic state with doping. Here, by taking lanthanum cuprate as an exemplar high-T c cuprate, we show that the recently developed non-empirical, strongly constrained and appropriately normed density functional accurately describes both the antiferromagnetic insulating ground state of the pristine compound and the metallic state of the doped system. Our study yields new insight into the low-energy spectra of cuprates and opens up a pathway toward wide-ranging first-principles investigations of electronic structures of cuprates and other correlated materials.

We combine a regularized variant of the strongly constrained and appropriately normed semilocal density functional [J. Sun, A. Ruzsinszky, and J. P. Perdew, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 036402 (2015)] with the latest generation semi-classical London dispersion correction. The resulting density functional approximation r2SCAN-D4 has the speed of generalized gradient approximations while approaching the accuracy of hybrid functionals for general chemical applications. We demonstrate its numerical robustness in real-life settings and benchmark molecular geometries, general main group and organo-metallic thermochemistry, and non-covalent interactions in supramolecular complexes and molecular crystals. Main group and transition metal bond lengths have errors of just 0.8%, which is competitive with hybrid functionals for main group molecules and outperforms them for transition metal complexes. The weighted mean absolute deviation (WTMAD2) on the large GMTKN55 database of chemical properties is exceptionally small at 7.5 kcal/mol. This also holds for metal organic reactions with an MAD of 3.3 kcal/mol. The versatile applicability to organic and metal–organic systems transfers to condensed systems, where lattice energies of molecular crystals are within the chemical accuracy (errors <1 kcal/mol).