Density functionals from deep learning

Abstract: Density-functional theory is a formally exact description of a many-body quantum system in terms of its density; in practice, however, approximations to the universal density functional are required. In this work, a model based on deep learning is developed to approximate this functional. Deep learning allows computational models that are capable of naturally discovering intricate structure in large and/or high-dimensional data sets, with multiple levels of abstraction. As no assumptions are made as to the form of this structure, this approach is much more powerful and flexible than traditional approaches. As an example application, the model is shown to perform well on approximating the kinetic-energy density functional for noninteracting electrons. The model is analyzed in detail, and its advantages over conventional machine learning are discussed.