Screening in the finite-temperature reduced Hartree-Fock model

Abstract

We prove the existence of solutions of the reduced Hartree-Fock equations at finite temperature for a periodic crystal with a small defect, and show total screening of the defect charge by the electrons. We also show the convergence of the damped self-consistent field iteration using Kerker preconditioning to remove charge sloshing. As a crucial step of the proof, we define and study the properties of the dielectric operator.