Reconsidering Power Functional Theory

Abstract

The original derivation of Power Functional Theory, Schmidt and Brader, JCP 138, 214101 (2013), is reworked in some detail with a view to clarifying and simplifying the logic and making explicit the various functional dependencies. We note various issues with the original development and suggest a modification that allows us to avoid them. In the process we also suggest an alternative interpretation of our results that bears surprising similarities to classical Density Functional Theory.