A Green's function quantum average atom model

A quantum average atom model is reformulated using Green's functions. This allows integrals along the real energy axis to be deformed into the complex plane. The advantage being that sharp features such as resonances and bound states are broadened by a Lorentzian with a half-width chosen for numerical convenience. An implementation of this method therefore avoids numerically challenging resonance tracking and the search for weakly bound states, without changing the physical content or results of the model. A straightforward implementation results in up to a factor of 5 speed-up relative to an optimized orbital based code. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.