A Tryst with Density: Walter Kohn and Density Functional Theory

Abstract

Walter Kohn transformed theoretical chemistry and solid statephysics with his development of density functional theory, forwhich he was awarded the Nobel Prize. This article tries toexplain, in simple terms, why this was an important advancein the field, and to describe precisely what it was that he (togetherwith his collaborators Pierre Hohenberg and Lu JeuSham) achieved.