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Remarks about the cellular method

$\bullet$ Notice that the problem is equivalent to the atomic problem, except that the atomic boundary conditions (that the wave function vanishes at infinity) are replaced by the cellular boundary condition.

$\bullet$ It is questionable wether the potential representing an isolated atom is the best approximation for the periodic potential within the entire WS cell. In particular, this potential has discontinous derivatives when crossing to neighboring preimitive cells (the actual potential is quite flat and smooth in such regions).



Adrian E. Feiguin 2009-11-04