Nonuniqueness of the Potentials of Spin-Density-Functional Theory

Abstract

It is shown that, contrary to widely held beliefs, the potentials of spin-density-functional theory (SDFT) are not unique functionals of the spin densities. Explicit examples of distinct sets of potentials with the same ground-state densities are constructed, and general arguments that uniqueness should not occur in SDFT and other generalized density-functional theories are given. As a consequence, various types of applications of SDFT require significant corrections or modifications.