Structures of sets of solutions to the Hartree-Fock equation

Abstract

The Hartree-Fock equation which is the Euler-Lagrange equation corresponding to the Hartree-Fock energy functional is used in many-electron problems. Since the Hartree-Fock equation is a system of nonlinear eigenvalue problems, the study of structures of sets of all solutions needs new methods different from that for the set of eigenfunctions of linear operators. In this paper we prove that the sets of all solutions to the Hartree-Fock equation associated with critical values of the Hartree-Fock energy functional less than the first energy threshold are unions of a finite number of compact connected real-analytic spaces. The result would also be a basis for the study of approximation methods to solve the equation.