A first step toward a universal nuclear energy density functional based on
low-momentum interactions is taken using the density matrix expansion (DME) of
Negele and Vautherin. The DME is adapted for non-local momentum-space
potentials and generalized to include local three-body interactions. Different
prescriptions for the three-body DME are compared. Exploratory results are
given at the Hartree-Fock level, along with a roadmap for systematic
improvements within an effective action framework for Kohn-Sham density
functional theory.Comment: 50 pages, 10 figure