arXiv:1002.2589v2 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci] 23 Mar 2010 1 In principle, the Luttinger-Ward Green’s function formalism allows one to compute simultane- ously the total energy and the quasiparticle band structure of a many-body electronic system from first principles. We present approximate and exact expressions for the correlation energy within the GW -RPA approximation that are more amenable to computation and allow for developing efficient approximations to the self-energy operator and correlation energy. The exact form is a sum over differences between plasmon and interband energies. The approximate forms are based on summing over screened interband transitions. We also demonstrate that blind extremization of such functionals leads to unphysical results: imposing physical constraints on the allowed solutions (Green’s functions) is necessary. Finally, we present some relevant numerical results for atomic systems. PACS numbers: 71.15.-m,71.15.Qe,71.15.Mb,71.15.Nc Abstract The correlation energy functional within the GW -RPA approximation: exact forms, approximate forms and challenges (Dated: November 15, 2018) Sohrab Ismail-Beigi Department of Applied Physics and Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520