title: Communication: Ionization potentials in the limit of large atomic number.
abstract: By extrapolating the energies of nonrelativistic atoms and their ions with up to 3000 electrons within Kohn-Sham density functional theory, we find that the ionization potential remains finite and increases across a row of the periodic table, even as Z → ∞. The local density approximation for the exchange contribution becomes more accurate (or even exact) in this limit. Extended Thomas-Fermi theory matches the shell average of both the ionization potential and density change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, USA. lconstan@tulane.edu
authors.forename: Lucian A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Constantin
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Perdew
authors.forename: Kieron
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Burke