OpenAI reports a Coulomb density without Kohn–Sham ensemble representation

A finite three-electron molecule with two equal positive integer nuclear charges has a normalizable interacting Coulomb ground state whose spin-summed density is not the density of any noninteracting ground-state ensemble for a single real spin-independent local potential in L^(3/2)(R³)+L∞(R³).

Sources for this record

What was already known

Prescribed densities outside this potential class had been shown nonrepresentable, and numerical studies suggested failures for interacting densities. A finite Coulomb ground-state density with a rigorous obstruction to every such noninteracting ensemble had not been established in the manuscript’s account.

AI involvement AI-led

OpenAI credits itself as manuscript author and states that its internal frontier model produced the results in this release. Individual human input is not detailed enough to establish task-only autonomy.

OpenAI is named as author on the manuscript, and its release attributes the results to an internal frontier model. The individual human input is not detailed enough to establish autonomy.

Importance Notable

Supplies a finite physical Coulomb example where the standard local-potential Kohn–Sham ensemble representation fails.

Limitations

The nuclear charge is specified by an exact finite formula without an effective numerical bound. The result does not cover distributional, spin-dependent or nonlocal potentials.

Technical verification Reported

Reported is the default when evidence for a higher level is insufficient. The OpenAI-authored manuscript reports and argues the result, but the reviewed sources do not document a completed check of the full assessed claim.

Human understanding Few

Few is the default when evidence for a higher level is insufficient. No named person is documented as explaining the central argument for this assessed contribution.

Correction and publication history

2026-10-18 · publication

Primary manuscript, attribution, and prior-work review for non-notifying local inclusion; technical verification remains Reported.

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