Exchange kernel fʰₓ(q,ω) of electron liquid from the variational principle of McLachlan

By minimizing, in the L₂ norm, the difference between the left- and the right-hand sides of the time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation, the variational principle of McLachlan (McLVP) [A. McLachlan, Molecular Physics { 8}, 39 (1964)] provides a powerful tool for the generation of equations of motion. If the trial wave function is the Slater determinant, McLVP produces a temporally and spatially nonlocal exchange potential [V. U. Nazarov, Phys. Rev. B { 87}, 165125 (2013)]. We study the performance of the corresponding wave-vector and frequency-dependent exchange kernel fʰₓ(q,ω) of the homogeneous electron liquid. While the McLVP-based fʰₓ(q,ω) lacks correlations by construction, we find that it accurately accounts for exchange, reproducing features in the quantum Monte Carlo data, which the known constraint-based kernels miss. We argue that the complementary use of the McLVP- and the constraint-based exchange-correlation kernels will enhance the performance of the linear response time-dependent density functional theory of the electron liquid.