Unveiling the nature of post-linear response Z-vector method for time-dependent density functional theory

We report a theoretical study on the analysis of the relaxed one-particle difference density matrix characterizing the passage from the ground to the excited state of a molecular system, as obtained from time-dependent density functional theory. In particular, this work aims at using the physics contained in the so-called Z-vector, which differentiates between unrelaxed and relaxed difference density matrices to analyze excited states' nature. For this purpose, we introduce novel quantum-mechanical quantities, based on the detachment/attachment methodology, for analysing the Z-vector transformation for different molecules and density functional theory functionals. A derivation pathway of these novel descriptors is reported, involving a numerical integration to be performed in the Euclidean space on the density functions. This topological analysis is then applied to two sets of chromophores, and the correlation between the level of theory and the behavior of our descriptors is properly rationalized. In particular, the effect of range-separation on the relaxation amplitude is discussed. The relaxation term is finally shown to be system-specific (for a given level of theory) and independent of the number of electrons (i.e., the relaxation amplitude is not simply the result of a collective phenomenon).