We demonstrate that a recently introduced slave-boson mean-field theory is equivalent to our Gutzwiller theory for multiband Hubbard models with general onsite interactions. We relate the different objects that appear in both approaches at zero temperature and discuss the limitations of both methods.
We propose a new method of solving a class of mean-field (MF) models, which is based on the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) principle with additional constraints included. Next, we show equivalence of our method when applied to the Gutzwiller approximation (GA), with the mean-field slave-boson (SB) formalism (on the example of the single-band Hubbard model). This equivalence provides thus an alternative justification of the results obtained within the SB approach which, however, contains ad hoc assumptions to position it in agreement with GA. Our approach implies that all predictions of the MF SB method can be obtained in a simpler, transparent, and controllable manner within GA when supplemented with the statistical-consistency conditions. We call the method as the Statistically-consistent Gutzwiller Approximation (SGA). Explicitly, the present formulation does not require introducing the condensed amplitudes of auxiliary Bose fields, which do not have a direct physical meaning and do not appear in the present formulation. Although the results of SGA are in the present case equivalent to SB, one can improve them further by utilizing more advanced schemes of calculating averages beyond the standard GA. To illustrate our approach, as well as to outline its advantages over alternative treatments of GA, we select the case of almost localized Fermi liquid (ALFL) in two dimensions and analyze it in detail within the tight-binding approximation. We also comment on significance of our method for describing correlated fermions. Namely, the reasoning used here can be applied to the corresponding MF treatment of the multiband Hubbard, the periodic Anderson, the t−J, and the t−J−U models. In this manner our method may be applied for strongly correlated electron systems, optical lattices, and other related situations.
Abstract We introduce a new slave‐boson mean‐field theory which allows the investigation of general multi‐band Hubbard models. Unlike earlier attempts of such a generalization, in our approach the quantum‐mechanical problem is exactly reformulated in an extended Hilbert space of Fermions and Bosons before a mean‐field approximation is applied. Systems with superconducting order parameters are naturally included in our formalism. Our ground‐state energy functional agrees with the corresponding quantity derived within the Gutzwiller theory.
A slave-spin representation of fermion operators has recently been proposed for the half-filled single and multiband Hubbard model. We show that with the addition of a gauge variable, the formalism can be extended to finite doping. We solve the resulting spin problem using the cluster mean-field approximation. This approximation takes short-range correlations into account by exact diagonalization on the cluster, whereas long-range correlations beyond the size of clusters are treated at the mean-field level. In the limit where the cluster has only one site and the interaction strength U is infinite, this approach reduces to the Gutzwiller approximation. There are some qualitative differences when the size of the cluster is finite. We first compute the critical U for the Mott transition as a function of a frustrating nearest-neighbor interaction on lattices relevant for various correlated systems, namely, the cobaltates, the layered organic superconductors and the high-temperature superconductors. For the triangular lattice, we also study the extended Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor repulsion. In addition to a uniform metallic state, we find a $\sqrt{(3)}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{(3)}$ charge density wave in a broad doping regime, including commensurate ones. We find that in the large U limit, intersite Coulomb repulsion V strongly suppresses the single-particle weight of the metallic state.
We introduce Gutzwiller-correlated wave functions for the variational investigation of general multi-band Hubbard models. We set up a diagrammatic formalism which allows us to evaluate analytically ground-state properties in the limit of infinite spatial dimensions. In this limit recent results obtained within the Gutzwiller approximation are seen to become exact for these wave functions. We further show that the slave-boson mean-field theory for degenerate bands becomes variationally controlled at zero temperature in infinite dimensions. Lastly, we briefly comment on the variational approach to the Anderson transition in strongly correlated electron systems.
We perform a comparative study of the finite temperature behavior of ultracold Bose atoms in optical lattices by the slave fermion and the slave boson approaches to the Bose-Hubbard model. The phase diagram of the system is presented. Although both approaches are equivalent without approximations, the mean field theory based on the slave fermion technique is quantitatively more appropriate. Conceptually, the slave fermion approach automatically excludes the double occupancy of two identical fermions on the same lattice site. By comparing to known results in limiting cases, we find the slave fermion approach better than the slave boson approach. For example, in the non-interacting limit, the critical temperature of the superfluid-normal liquid transition calculated by the slave fermion approach is closer to the well-known ideal Bose gas result. At zero-temperature limit of the critical interaction, strength from the slave fermion approach is also closer to that from the direct calculation using a zero-temperature mean field theory.