We investigate the static and dynamical behavior of one-dimensional interacting fermions in disordered Hubbard chains contacted to semi-infinite leads. The chains are described via the repulsive Anderson-Hubbard Hamiltonian, using static and time-dependent lattice density-functional theory. The dynamical behavior of our quantum transport system is studied using an integration scheme available in the literature, which we modify via the recursive Lanczos method to increase its efficiency. To quantify the degree of localization due to disorder and interactions, we adapt the definition of the inverse participation ratio to obtain an indicator which is suitable for quantum transport geometries and can be obtained within density-functional theory. Lattice density-functional theories are reviewed and, for contacted chains, we analyze the merits and limits of the coherent-potential approximation in describing the spectral properties, with interactions included via lattice density-functional theory. Our approach appears to be able to capture complex features due to the competition between disorder and interactions. Specifically, we find a dynamical enhancement of delocalization in the presence of a finite bias and an increase of the steady-state current induced by interparticle interactions. This behavior is corroborated by results for the time-dependent densities and for the inverse participation ratio. Using short isolated chains with interaction and disorder, a brief comparative analysis between time-dependent density-functional theory and exact results is then given, followed by general concluding remarks.
We investigate the static and dynamical behavior of one-dimensional interacting fermions in disordered Hubbard chains contacted to semi-infinite leads. The chains are described via the repulsive Anderson-Hubbard Hamiltonian, using static and time-dependent lattice density-functional theory. The dynamical behavior of our quantum transport system is studied using an integration scheme available in the literature, which we modify via the recursive Lanczos method to increase its efficiency. To quantify the degree of localization due to disorder and interactions, we adapt the definition of the inverse participation ratio to obtain an indicator which is suitable for quantum transport geometries and can be obtained within density-functional theory. Lattice density-functional theories are reviewed and, for contacted chains, we analyze the merits and limits of the coherent-potential approximation in describing the spectral properties, with interactions included via lattice density-functional theory. Our approach appears to be able to capture complex features due to the competition between disorder and interactions. Specifically, we find a dynamical enhancement of delocalization in the presence of a finite bias and an increase of the steady-state current induced by interparticle interactions. This behavior is corroborated by results for the time-dependent densities and for the inverse participation ratio. Using short isolated chains with interaction and disorder, a brief comparative analysis between time-dependent density-functional theory and exact results is then given, followed by general concluding remarks.
Cutting-edge technology needs small, ultrafast devices, operational in a wide range of regimes. This calls for solids with novel, unconventional and tailorable properties. Great progress is expected from materials in which electron-electron and electron-phonon correlations strongly affect the dynamics ( i.e. "unforeseen" useful properties are expected to be most likely found in systems with complex behavior). In spite of the potentially huge technological pay-off, our understanding of these systems is rather incomplete, especially in non-equilibrium. Often, with knowledge of systems or phenomena at an early stage, it is rewarding to resort to model, simplified descriptions. This strategy is used in this thesis, where we study several models lattice systems via density-functional theory. The latter is a well established approach (in fact, it is the current method of choice) for investigations of real materials. In our research, we focussed on little understood properties of interacting many-particle systems, such as the time-dependent conduction properties of electronic devices in the presence of interactions, disorder, and lattice vibrations, or the expansion of ultracold fermion clouds in 3D optical lattices. All these systems were described in terms of Hubbard-type interactions for the electrons, and Holstein-type electron-phonon interactions. Our results show interesting features due to the interactions which depend on dimensionality; they also show a dynamical crossover for several properties, due to the competition between disorder and interaction. Finally, when lattice vibrations are included, we showed how it is possible to manipulate in a controlled way the nuclear dynamics of molecular device via fast electronic external fields, of potential interest for technologies employing nanomolecular motors.
We consider two mutually interacting fermionic particle species on a one-dimensional lattice and study how the mass ratio $\ensuremath{\eta}$ between the two species affects the (equilibration) dynamics of the particles. Focusing on the regime of strong interactions and high temperatures, two well-studied points of reference are given by (i) the case of equal masses $\ensuremath{\eta}=1$, i.e., the standard Fermi-Hubbard chain, where initial nonequilibrium density distributions are known to decay, and (ii) the case of one particle species being infinitely heavy, $\ensuremath{\eta}=0$, leading to a localization of the lighter particles in an effective disorder potential. Given these two opposing cases, the dynamics in the case of intermediate mass ratios $0<\ensuremath{\eta}<1$ is of particular interest. To this end, we study the real-time dynamics of pure states featuring a sharp initial nonequilibrium density profile. Relying on the concept of dynamical quantum typicality, the resulting nonequilibrium dynamics can be related to equilibrium correlation functions. Summarizing our main results, we observe that diffusive transport occurs for moderate values of the mass imbalance and manifests itself in a Gaussian spreading of real-space density profiles and an exponential decay of density modes in momentum space. For stronger imbalances, we provide evidence that transport becomes anomalous on intermediate timescales, and in particular, our results are consistent with the absence of strict localization in the long-time limit for any $\ensuremath{\eta}>0$. Based on our numerical analysis, we provide an estimate for the ``lifetime'' of the effective localization as a function of $\ensuremath{\eta}$.
We investigate the 1D Anderson-Hubbard model at half filling with box-disorder. The ground state phase diagram is obtained by means of real-space dynamical mean-field theory (R-DMFT) and the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG). We find Mott insulating and Anderson localized regimes as well as a strong indication of a delocalized phase for intermediate interaction and disorder strength within accessible system sizes. These phases are characterized and distinguished by qualitatively different scaling behavior of the local density of states, the energy gap in the excitation spectrum and the inverse participation number.
The dimerized one-dimensional Hubbard model is studied in the framework of lattice density-functional theory (LDFT). The single-particle density matrix ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}$ with respect to the lattice sites is considered as the basic variable. The corresponding interaction-energy functional $W[{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}]$ is defined by Levy's constrained search. Exact numerical results are obtained for $W({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12},{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{23}),$ where ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12}={\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{i,i+1}$ for odd i and ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{23}={\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{i,i+1}$ for even i are the nearest-neighbor density-matrix elements along the chain. The domain of representability of ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ij}}$ and the functional dependence of $W({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12},{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{23})$ are analyzed. A simple, explicit approximation to $W({\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{12},{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{23})$ is proposed, which is derived from scaling properties of W, exact dimer results, and known limits. Using this approximation, LDFT is applied to determine ground-state properties and charge-excitation gaps of finite and infinite dimerized chains as a function of the Coulomb-repulsion strength U/t and of the alternation $\ensuremath{\delta}t$ of the hopping integrals tij ${(t}_{\mathrm{ij}}=t\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\ensuremath{\delta}t).$ The accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparison with available exact solutions and accurate numerical calculations. Goals and limitations of the present approach are discussed particularly concerning its ability to describe the crossover from weak to strong electron correlations.
This work analyzes the behavior of coupled disordered one-dimensional systems as modelled by identical fermionic Hubbard chains with the on-site potential disorder and coupling emerging through the interchain hopping ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$. The study is motivated by the experiment on fermionic cold atoms on a disordered lattice, where a decay rate of the quenched density wave was measured. We present a derivation of the decay rate $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ within perturbation theory and show that, even at large disorder along the chains, the interaction leads to finite $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}>0$, the mechanism being the interaction-induced coupling of in-chain localized and interchain extended single-fermion states. Explicit expressions for $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ are presented for a weak interaction $U<t,{t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$, but extended also to the regime $t>U>{t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$. It is shown that, in both regimes, $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ increases with the interchain hopping ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$, as well as decreases with increasing disorder.
Abstract We study the transport properties of a one-dimensional quantum system with disorder. We numerically compute the frequency dependence of the conductivity of a fermionic chain with nearest-neighbor interaction and a random chemical potential by using the Chebyshev matrix product state (CheMPS) method. As a benchmark, we investigate the noninteracting case first. Comparison with exact diagonalization and analytical solutions demonstrates that the results of CheMPS are reliable over a wide range of frequencies. We then calculate the dynamical conductivity spectra of the interacting system for various values of the interaction and disorder strengths. In the high-frequency regime, the conductivity decays as a power law, with an interaction-dependent exponent. This behavior is qualitatively consistent with the bosonized field theory predictions, although the numerical evaluation of the exponent shows deviations from the analytically expected values. We also compute the characteristic pinning frequency at which a peak in the conductivity appears. We confirm that it is directly related to the inverse of the localization length, even in the interacting case. We demonstrate that the localization length follows a power law of the disorder strength with an exponent dependent on the interaction, and find good quantitative agreement with the field theory predictions. In the low-frequency regime, we find a behavior consistent with the one of the noninteracting system ω2(lnω)2 ω 2 ( ln ω ) 2 independently of the interaction. We discuss the consequences of our finding for experiments in cold atomic gases. Graphical abstract