We consider a number of questions regarding the Luttinger-Ward functional and the many-body perturbation series expansion of the proper self-energy
Σ(k;z) specific to uniform ground states (ensemble of states) of interacting fermion systems in terms of skeleton self-energy diagrams and the interacting Green function
G(k;z). Utilising a link between the latter series expansion and the classical moment problem (of the Hamburger type), along with the associated continued-fraction expansion, we reaffirm our earlier observation (2007) that for lattice models of fermions interacting through short-range two-body potentials (i.e. for Hubbard-like models) this series is uniformly convergent for almost all wave vectors
k and complex energies
z. The limit of this series is unique. We inquire into the reasons underlying the contrary observation by Kozik et al. (2015) regarding skeleton-diagrammatic perturbation series expansion of
Σ. In doing so, we make a number of observations of general interest. Chief amongst these, we observe that contrary to general belief thermal correlation functions calculated in the energy domain (i.e. over the set of the relevant Matsubara frequencies) are generally unreliable, in contrast to those calculated in the imaginary-time domain. In an appendix we present a symbolic computational formalism and short programs for singling out topologically distinct proper self-energy diagrams that are algebraically equivalent up to determinate multiplicative constants. This complements the work presented in our previous publication (2019). [Abridged abstract]
Convergence of the self-consistent skeleton diagrammatic technique (SDT) -- in which the full Green's function is determined through summation of Feynman diagrams in terms of itself -- to the wrong answer has been associated with the existence of non-perturbative branches of the Luttinger-Ward functional. Although it has been possible to detect misleading convergence without the knowledge of the exact result, the SDT has remained inapplicable in the regimes where this happens. We show that misleading convergence does not always preclude recovering the exact solution. In addition to the established mechanism, convergence of the SDT to the wrong answer can stem from divergence of the inherent diagrammatic series, which allows us to recover the exact solution by a modified SDT protocol based on controlled analytic continuation. We illustrate this approach by its application to the analytically solvable (0+0)d Hubbard model, the Hubbard atom, and the 2d Hubbard model in a challenging strong-coupling regime, for which the SDT is solved with controlled accuracy by the diagrammatic Monte Carlo (DiagMC) technique.
The Luttinger-Ward functional $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}[\mathbf{G}]$, which expresses the thermodynamic grand potential in terms of the interacting single-particle Green's function
G, is found to be ill defined for fermionic models with the Hubbard on-site interaction. In particular, we show that the self-energy $\mathbf{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}[\mathbf{G}]\ensuremath{\propto}\ensuremath{\delta}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}[\mathbf{G}]/\ensuremath{\delta}\mathbf{G}$ is not a single-valued functional of
G: in addition to the physical solution for $\mathbf{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}[\mathbf{G}]$, there exists at least one qualitatively distinct unphysical branch. This result is demonstrated for several models: the Hubbard atom, the Anderson impurity model, and the full two-dimensional Hubbard model. Despite this pathology, the skeleton Feynman diagrammatic series for $\mathbf{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}$ in terms of
G is found to converge at least for moderately low temperatures. However, at strong interactions, its convergence is to the unphysical branch. This reveals a new scenario of breaking down of diagrammatic expansions. In contrast, the bare series in terms of the noninteracting Green's function
G0 converges to the correct physical branch of $\mathbf{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}$ in all cases currently accessible by diagrammatic Monte Carlo calculations. In addition to their conceptual importance, these observations have important implications for techniques based on the explicit summation of the diagrammatic series.