Cube file from arbitrary density matrix

[mat]

Hi,
I am currently using the Psi4 Python API and I am guessing if it would be possible to generate the cube files from an arbitrary density matrix. Let’s suppose that I need to visually compare the ground state density ( ie.
ene,wfn = psi4.energy(‘scf’,return_wfn=True) , cubeprop(wfn) ) to the density corresponding to a unitary transformed density matrix. Any suggestion is welcome and really appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Matteo

[shouck]

Hi Matteo,
It seems like the cubeprop() function takes the density matrix directly from the wfn object (ref: this line in the source code). You can overwrite the original density matrix in the wavefunction with the desired one like so:

import psi4
import numpy as np

ch4 = psi4.core.Molecule.create_molecule_from_string("""
0 1
C
H  1 1.099503
H  1 1.099503  2 109.471209
H  1 1.099503  2 109.471209    3  120.0
H  1 1.099503  2 109.471209    3  240.0
""")

psi4.set_options({'basis': 'sto-3g'})
E, wfn = psi4.energy('scf', molecule=ch4, return_wfn=True)

# get original density matrix for analysis (numpy)
Da_np = psi4.core.Matrix.to_array(wfn.Da())
Db_np = psi4.core.Matrix.to_array(wfn.Db())
# perform manipulations on the numpy matrices as needed
# return to psi4.core.Matrix objects
Da_new = psi4.core.Matrix.from_array(Da_np)
Db_new = psi4.core.Matrix.from_array(Db_np)
# overwrite density matrices in wfn
wfn.Da().copy(Da_new)
wfn.Db().copy(Db_new)

# write cube files
psi4.cubeprop(wfn)

If you already have the new matrices in psi4.core.Matrix format, you can skip the NumPy part and do the copying directly. I think this approach should generate cube files using the new density matrices, but let me know if it doesn’t and we can try and sort out what’s wrong.

[mat]

Thank you so much. Your example is nice and completely reasonable. I missed the .copy() for the wfn.Da(). I think your suggestion will fit my needs.