  Optical properties of symmetry-forbidden pi-pi transitions in benzene are
calculated with the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), using an
adiabatic LDA functional. Quantities calculated are the envelopes of the
Franck-Condon factors of the vibrationally promoted transitions and the
associated oscillator strengths. The strengths, which span three orders of
magnitude, are reproduced to better than a factor of two by the theory.
Comparable agreement is found for the Franck-Condon widths. We conclude that
rather detailed information can be obtained with the TDDFT and it may be
worthwhile to explore other density functionals.
