The characteristic topological features of the electrostatic potential for the negatively charged atoms defined by the Sen-Politzer theorem [J. Chem. Phys. 90, 4370 (1989)] calculated using the local exchange-only work potential derived from Coulomb’s law are found to be in good agreement with the corresponding Hartree-Fock results. The perspective of the work formalism attaches new significance to the topological features exclusively in terms of the Fermi-Coulomb hole density.