English

PyGSC: A Python tool for correcting Kohn-Sham orbital energies by mitigating the delocalization error of density functional approximations

Chemical Physics 2026-04-07 v1

Abstract

Density functional approximations (DFAs) suffer from delocalization error, which limits their accuracy in predicting electron affinities (EAs), ionization potentials (IPs), and quasiparticle energies. In this work, we present a theoretical refinement of the quasiparticle energies from density functional theory (QE-DFT) method by improving the perturbative expression for the exchange-correlation potential, leading to a more consistent description of molecular systems. We further develop an open-source Python program, PyGSC, built upon the PySCF library, which implements the modified QE-DFT framework. Benchmark tests on main-group atoms and G2/97 molecules demonstrate that the modified QE-DFT method outperforms the original DFAs, with third-order corrections achieving mean absolute deviations below 0.3 eV for EA and IP predictions. Application to dipole-bound states of DNA/RNA nucleobases further validates the superiority of the QE-DFT approach over original DFAs, offering an efficient and accurate approach for predicting electronic properties in large molecular systems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.04076,
  title  = {PyGSC: A Python tool for correcting Kohn-Sham orbital energies by mitigating the delocalization error of density functional approximations},
  author = {Zipeng An and Xiaolong Yang and Xiao Zheng and Weitao Yang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.04076},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:54:25.198Z