Accurate Relativistic Real-Time Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory for Valence and Core Attosecond Transient Absorption Spectroscopy

First principles theoretical modeling of out-of-equilibrium processes observed in attosecond pump–probe transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) triggering pure electron dynamics remains a challenging task, especially for heavy elements and/or core excitations containing fingerprints of scalar and spin–orbit relativistic effects. To address this, we formulate a methodology for simulating TAS within the relativistic real-time, time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) framework, for both the valence and core energy regimes. Especially for TAS, full four-component (4c) RT simulations are feasible but computationally demanding. Therefore, in addition to the 4c approach, we also introduce the atomic mean-field exact two-component (amfX2C) Hamiltonian accounting for one- and two-electron picture-change corrections within RT-TDDFT. amfX2C preserves the accuracy of the parent 4c method at a fraction of its computational cost. Finally, we apply the methodology to study valence and near-L2,3-edge TAS processes of experimentally relevant systems and provide additional physical insights using relativistic nonequilibrium response theory.