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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Excitonic Hamiltonians for Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra and Optoelectronic Properties of Molecular Aggregates and Solids
Published on: May 27, 2020
Benchmarking approximate density functional theory for s/d excitation energies in 3d transition metal cations
Nathan E Schultz1, Yan Zhao, Donald G Truhlar
1Department of Chemistry and Supercomputing Institute, University of Minnesota, 207 Pleasant Street Southeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0431.
Abstract:
Holthausen has recently provided a comprehensive study of density functional theory for calculating the s/d excitation energies of the 3d transition metal cations. This study did not include the effects of scalar relativistic effects, and we show here that the inclusion of scalar relativistic effects significantly alters the conclusions of the study. We find, contrary to the previous study, that local functionals are more accurate for the excitation energies of 3d transition method cations than hybrid functionals. The most accurate functionals, of the 38 tested, are SLYP, PBE, BP86, PBELYP, and PW91.
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