Augmented Lagrangian method for order-N electronic structure

Molecular electronic ground-state theories, whether ab initio, or semiempirical are most often formulated as a variational principle, where the electronic ground-state energy, considered a linear or nonlinear functional of a reduced density matrix, obtains a constrained minimum. In this communication, we present a Lagrangian analysis of the self-consistent-field electronic structure problem, which does not resort to the concept of orthogonal molecular orbitals. We also develop a method of constrained minimization efficiently applicable to nonlinear energy functional minimization, as well as to linear models such as tight-binding. The method is able to treat large molecules with an effort that scales linearly with the system size. It has built-in robustness and leads directly to the desired minimal solution. Performance is demonstrated on linear alkane and polyene chains.