Canonical density matrix perturbation theory.

Density matrix perturbation theory [Niklasson and Challacombe, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 193001 (2004)] is generalized to canonical (NVT) free-energy ensembles in tight-binding, Hartree-Fock, or Kohn-Sham density-functional theory. The canonical density matrix perturbation theory can be used to calculate temperature-dependent response properties from the coupled perturbed self-consistent field equations as in density-functional perturbation theory. The method is well suited to take advantage of sparse matrix algebra to achieve linear scaling complexity in the computational cost as a function of system size for sufficiently large nonmetallic materials and metals at high temperatures.