A brief compendium of time-dependent density-functional theory

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT), explaining its fundamental principles, practical implementation, and applications, aimed at non-experts seeking an accessible introduction.

Contribution

It offers a clear, non-technical survey of TDDFT's framework, practical aspects, and uses, making the complex theory accessible to newcomers.

Findings

Summarizes the core principles of TDDFT

Highlights practical implementation considerations

Reviews applications in electronic structure calculations

Abstract

Time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) is a formally exact approach to the time-dependent electronic many-body problem which is widely used for calculating excitation energies. We present a survey of the fundamental framework, practical aspects, and applications of TDDFT. This paper is mainly intended for non-experts (students or researchers in other areas) who would like to learn about the present state of TDDFT without going too deeply into formal details.