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arXiv:1306.6340 · Physical Review B

Nonequilibrium self-energy functional theory

Felix Hofmann, Martin Eckstein, Enrico Arrigoni, Michael Potthoff

Published Oct 18, 2013• 19 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The self-energy functional theory (SFT) is generalized to describe the real-time dynamics of correlated lattice-fermion models far from thermal equilibrium. This is achieved by starting from a reformulation of the original equilibrium theory in terms of double-time Green's functions on the Keldysh-Matsubara contour. With the help of a generalized Luttinger-Ward functional, we construct a functional $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\Omega}}[\ensuremath{\Sigma}]$ which is stationary at the physical (nonequilibrium) self-energy $\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ and which yields the grand potential of the initial thermal state $\ensuremath{\Omega}$ at the physical point. Nonperturbative approximations can be defined by specifying a reference system that serves to generate trial self-energies. These self-energies are varied by varying the reference system's one-particle parameters on the Keldysh-Matsubara contour. In the case of thermal equilibrium, this approach reduces to the conventional SFT. Contrary to the equilibrium theory, however, ``unphysical'' variations, i.e., variations that are different on the upper and the lower branches of the Keldysh contour, must be considered to fix the time dependence of the optimal physical parameters via the variational principle. Functional derivatives in the nonequilibrium SFT Euler equation are carried out analytically to derive conditional equations for the variational parameters that are accessible to a numerical evaluation via a time-propagation scheme. Approximations constructed by means of the nonequilibrium SFT are shown to be inherently causal, internally consistent, and to respect macroscopic conservation laws resulting from gauge symmetries of the Hamiltonian. This comprises the nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory but also dynamical-impurity and variational-cluster approximations that are specified by reference systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom. In this way, nonperturbative and consistent approximations can be set up, the numerical evaluation of which is accessible to an exact-diagonalization approach.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.88.165124

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The self-energy functional theory (SFT) is generalized to describe the real-time dynamics of correlated lattice-fermion models far from thermal equilibrium. This is achieved by starting from a reformulation of the original equilibrium theory in terms of double-time Green's functions on the Keldysh-Matsubara contour. With the help of a generalized Luttinger-Ward functional, we construct a functional \ensuremathΩ\ifmmode^\elseˆ\fi[\ensuremathΣ]\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\Omega}}[\ensuremath{\Sigma}]\ensuremathΩ\ifmmode^\elseˆ\fi​[\ensuremathΣ] which is stationary at the physical (nonequilibrium) self-energy \ensuremathΣ\ensuremath{\Sigma}\ensuremathΣ and which yields the grand potential of the initial thermal state \ensuremathΩ\ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremathΩ at the physical point. Nonperturbative approximations can be defined by specifying a reference system that serves to generate trial self-energies. These self-energies are varied by varying the reference system's one-particle parameters on the Keldysh-Matsubara contour. In the case of thermal equilibrium, this approach reduces to the conventional SFT. Contrary to the equilibrium theory, however, ``unphysical'' variations, i.e., variations that are different on the upper and the lower branches of the Keldysh contour, must be considered to fix the time dependence of the optimal physical parameters via the variational principle. Functional derivatives in the nonequilibrium SFT Euler equation are carried out analytically to derive conditional equations for the variational parameters that are accessible to a numerical evaluation via a time-propagation scheme. Approximations constructed by means of the nonequilibrium SFT are shown to be inherently causal, internally consistent, and to respect macroscopic conservation laws resulting from gauge symmetries of the Hamiltonian. This comprises the nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory but also dynamical-impurity and variational-cluster approximations that are specified by reference systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom. In this way, nonperturbative and consistent approximations can be set up, the numerical evaluation of which is accessible to an exact-diagonalization approach.
Based on a functional-integral formalism, a generalization of the self-energy-functional theory (SFT) is proposed which is applicable to systems of interacting electrons with disorder. Similar to the pure case without disorder, a variational principle is set up which gives the physical (disorder) self-energy as a stationary point of the (averaged) grand potential. Although the resulting self-energy functional turns out to be more complicated, the formal structure of the theory can be retained since the unknown part of the functional is universal. This allows one to construct nonperturbative and thermodynamically consistent approximations via searching for a stationary point on a restricted domain of the functional. The theory and the possible approximations are worked out for models with local interactions and local disorder. This results in a derivation of different mean-field approaches and various cluster extensions, including well-known concepts such as the statistical dynamical mean-field theory, the molecular coherent-potential approximation, and the dynamical cluster approximation. Due to the common formal framework provided by the SFT, one achieves a general systematization of dynamical approaches, i.e., approaches based on the spectrum of one-particle excitations. Different mean-field and different cluster schemes naturally appear in this framework and complement the existing ones. Their prospects for future applications are discussed.
Abstract. The systematics of different approximations within the self-energy-functional theory (SFT) is discussed for fermionic lattice models with local interactions. In the context of the SFT, an approximation is essentially given by specifying a reference system with the same interaction but a modified non-interacting part of the Hamiltonian which leads to a partial decoupling of degrees of freedom. The reference system defines a space of trial self-energies on which an optimization of the grand potential as a functional of the self-energy Ω[Σ] is performed. As a stationary point is not a minimum in general and does not provide a bound for the exact grand potential, however, it is a priori unclear how to judge on the relative quality of two different approximations. By analyzing the Euler equation of the SFT variational principle, it is shown that a stationary point of the functional on a subspace given by a reference system composed of decoupled subsystems is also a stationary point in case of the coupled reference system. On this basis a strategy is suggested which generates a sequence of systematically improving approximations. The discussion is actually relevant for any variational approach that is not based on wave functions and the Rayleigh-Ritz principle. 1.
In this article, we present a concise and self-contained introduction to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics with quantum field theory by considering an ensemble of interacting identical bosons or fermions as an example. Readers are assumed to be familiar with the Matsubara formalism of equilibrium statistical mechanics such as Feynman diagrams, the proper self-energy, and Dyson's equation. The aims are threefold: (i) to explain the fundamentals of nonequilibrium quantum field theory as simple as possible on the basis of the knowledge of the equilibrium counterpart; (ii) to elucidate the hierarchy in describing nonequilibrium systems from Dyson's equation on the Keldysh contour to the Navier-Stokes equation in fluid mechanics via quantum transport equations and the Boltzmann equation; (iii) to derive an expression of nonequilibrium entropy that evolves with time. In stage (i), we introduce nonequilibrium Green's function and the self-energy uniquely on the round-trip Keldysh contour, thereby avoiding possible confusions that may arise from defining multiple Green's functions at the very beginning. We try to present the Feynman rules for the perturbation expansion as simple as possible. In particular, we focus on the self-consistent perturbation expansion with the Luttinger-Ward thermodynamic functional, i.e., Baym's Phi-derivable approximation, which has a crucial property for nonequilibrium systems of obeying various conservation laws automatically. We also show how the two-particle correlations can be calculated within the Phi-derivable approximation, i.e., an issue of how to handle the "Bogoliubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvons (BBGKY) hierarchy".
The nonequilibrium variational-cluster approach is applied to study the real-time dynamics of the double occupancy in the one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model after different fast changes of hopping parameters. A simple reference system, consisting of isolated Hubbard dimers, is used to discuss different aspects of the numerical implementation of the approach in the general framework of nonequilibrium self-energy functional theory. Opposed to a direct solution of the Euler equation, its time derivative is found to serve as numerically tractable and stable conditional equation to fix the time-dependent variational parameters.
The nonequilibrium variational-cluster approach is applied to study the real-time dynamics of the double occupancy in the one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model after different fast changes of hopping parameters. A simple reference system, consisting of isolated Hubbard dimers, is used to discuss different aspects of the numerical implementation of the approach in the general framework of nonequilibrium self-energy functional theory. Opposed to a direct solution of the Euler equation, its time derivative is found to serve as numerically tractable and stable conditional equation to fix the time-dependent variational parameters.
It is shown that the nonequilibrium self-energy of an interacting lattice-fermion model has a unique Lehmann representation. Based on the construction of a suitable noninteracting effective medium, we provide an explicit and numerically practicable scheme to construct the Lehmann representation for the self-energy, given the Lehmann representation of the single-particle nonequilibrium Green's function. This is of particular importance for an efficient numerical solution of Dyson's equation in the context of approximations where the self-energy is obtained from a reference system with a small Hilbert space. As compared to conventional techniques to solve Dyson's equation on the Keldysh contour, the effective-medium approach allows us to reach a maximum propagation time, which can be several orders of magnitude longer. This is demonstrated explicitly by choosing the nonequilibrium cluster-perturbation theory as a simple approach to study the long-time dynamics of an inhomogeneous initial state after a quantum quench in the Hubbard model on a $10\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}10$ square lattice. We demonstrate that the violation of conservation laws is moderate for weak Hubbard interaction and that the cluster approach is able to describe prethermalization physics.