arXiv:1412.7266 · Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics
Functional renormalization-group approaches, one-particle (irreducible) reducible with respect to local Green’s functions, with dynamical mean-field theory as a starting point
We consider formulations of the functional renormalization-group (fRG) flow for correlated electronic systems with the dynamical mean-field theory as a starting point. We classify the corresponding renormalization-group schemes into those neglecting one-particle irreducible six-point vertices (with respect to the local Green’s functions) and neglecting one-particle reducible six-point vertices. The former class is represented by the recently introduced DMF 2 RG approach [31], but also by the scale-dependent generalization of the one-particle irreducible representation (with respect to local Green’s functions, 1PI-LGF) of the generating functional [20]. The second class is represented by the fRG flow within the dual fermion approach [16, 32]. We compare formulations of the fRG approach in each of these cases and suggest their further application to study 2D systems within the Hubbard model.
We consider formulations of the functional renormalization-group (fRG) flow for correlated electronic systems with the dynamical mean-field theory as a starting point. We classify the corresponding renormalization-group schemes into those neglecting one-particle irreducible six-point vertices (with respect to the local Green’s functions) and neglecting one-particle reducible six-point vertices. The former class is represented by the recently introduced DMF 2 RG approach [31], but also by the scale-dependent generalization of the one-particle irreducible representation (with respect to local Green’s functions, 1PI-LGF) of the generating functional [20]. The second class is represented by the fRG flow within the dual fermion approach [16, 32]. We compare formulations of the fRG approach in each of these cases and suggest their further application to study 2D systems within the Hubbard model.
Technological advances in the fabrication of mesoscopic structures allow for an experimental investigation of low-dimensional interacting many-body systems in nonequilibrium situations. From a theoretical perspective, the accurate description of such systems constitutes a major challenge which has in general not been solved. In light of possible applications, such as quantum computation, but also for a better understanding of correlation effects themselves, it is thus important to put a research focus on methodological advances.The so called functional renormalization group (fRG) has turned out to be a successful and versatile tool in the application to the aforementioned systems. Being an RG method, it has the associated advantages, e.g. a successive integrating out of energy scales and avoiding divergences that perturbation theory would have. In this thesis, we present two paradigmatic extensions of the fRG approach.Typically, the fRG is used to investigate the flow of the generating functional of the one-particle-irreducible (1PI) vertex functions. Typical approximations in this framework bring about certain shortcomings, such as the violation of conservation laws. In order to overcome some of these shortcomings, we formulate the fRG for the generating functional of the two-particle-irreducible (2PI) vertex functions. This step constitutes our first extension of the fRG approach. While typically only nonconserving schemes are generated in 1PI fRG, we can define nonconserving and conserving approximation schemes within 2PI fRG. Partially, these are found to be equivalent to known diagrammatic approximations. We apply the various 2PI fRG schemes to the quantum anharmonic oscillator, as a “toy model”, and to the Anderson impurity model, as a full fermionic quantum many-body problem. Overall, we find that the devised 2PI fRG schemes (even the conserving ones) offer no great advantage over established 1PI methods. As an exception, the nonconserving lowest-order 2PI fRG scheme in which the flow parameter is introduced in the interaction produces better results than 1PI fRG schemes which are comparable in computational effort.Our second extension of the fRG approach is to apply it to models which cannot (directly) be formulated in second quantization. Having a localized spin, the Kondo model is a simple example of such models which nevertheless shows nontrivial (but well-understood, e.g. by Anderson’s Poor Man’s Scaling) correlation effects. It has hardly been treated with fRG in the literature. In this thesis, we present how to overcome obstacles arising in the formulation of the Kondo model in functional integral formalism. Instead of the 1PI fRG, we use the Polchinski fRG which is based on connected amputated Green functions. This makes it possible to make a close connection to Poor Man’s Scaling which employs the concept of the T-matrix. We reproduce the results of Poor Man’s Scaling and also devise a systematic extension to it by keeping the frequency dependence of the flowing amputated Green functions in the RG equations. With this scheme, we do not find a significant qualitative improvement over Poor Man’s Scaling. However, we have layed the groundwork for more successful future extensions of the fRG applied to the Kondo model.
We derive functional renormalization group (fRG) schemes for Fermi systems which are based on the two-particle irreducible approach to the quantum many-body problem. In a first step, the cutoff is introduced in the non-interacting propagator as it is commonly done in fRG based on one-particle irreducible vertex functions. The most natural truncation of the resulting infinite hierarchy of flow equations is shown to be fully equivalent to self-consistent perturbation theory. An earlier suggested alternative truncation strategy is considered as well. In a second step, the cutoff is introduced in the two-particle interaction. Again two truncation procedures are investigated, one of which was derived before. In the latter, the mean-field solution of the many-body problem is considered as the starting point of the renormalization group flow. We compare the performance and the required numerical resources for solving the coupled flow equations for all the approximate schemes by applying them to the problem of the quantum anharmonic oscillator. In a functional integral representation, this model has a formal similarity to the quantum many-body problem. The perspectives for applying the derived two-particle irreducible fRG approaches to zero- and one-dimensional systems of correlated fermions are discussed.
We present an approach which is based on the one-particle irreducible (1PI) generating functional formalism and includes electronic correlations on all length scales beyond the local correlations of dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). This formalism allows us to unify aspects of the dynamical vertex approximation (D$\ensuremath{\Gamma}$A) and the dual fermion (DF) scheme, yielding a consistent formulation of nonlocal correlations at the one- and two-particle level beyond DMFT within the functional integral formalism. In particular, the considered approach includes one-particle reducible contributions from the three- and more-particle vertices in the dual fermion approach, as well as some diagrams not included in the ladder version of D$\ensuremath{\Gamma}$A. To demonstrate the applicability and physical content of the 1PI approach, we compare the diagrammatics of 1PI, DF, and D$\ensuremath{\Gamma}$A, as well as the numerical results of these approaches for the half-filled Hubbard model in two dimensions.
We propose an approach describing correlated electronic systems within the two-particle irreducible functional renormalization-group (2PI-fRG) approach, which uses initial self-energy and the two-particle irreducible vertices, obtained from (extended) dynamical mean-field theory [E(DMFT)]. Using the 2PI-fRG approach allows us to treat both local and nonlocal interactions. In the case of purely local interaction the corresponding equations have similar (although not identical) structure to the earlier developed DMFT+fRG (DMF2RG) approach. In a simplest truncation, neglecting scale dependence of the two-particle irreducible vertices, we reproduce the results for the two-particle vertices/susceptibilities in the ladder approximation of the dual-boson (DB) or the dynamic vertex approximation approach; in more sophisticated truncations the method allows us to consider nonlocal corrections to the self-energy as well as the interplay of charge and spin correlations. The proposed scheme is tested on the two-dimensional standard and extended $U\text{\ensuremath{-}}V$ half-filled Hubbard models. For the standard Hubbard model we obtain nonlocal self-energy, which is in agreement with numerical studies; for the extended Hubbard model we find the boundary of charge instability, which agrees well with the results of the DB approach. We also ascertain that the effect of spin correlations on electron interaction in the charge channel, not considered previously in the DB approach, only slightly reduces critical next-nearest-neighbor interaction of charge instability of the extended Hubbard model at the considered finite low temperature, yielding better agreement with dynamic cluster approximation. The considered method is rather general and can be applied to study various phenomena in strongly correlated electronic systems.
We suggest a new approach for treatment of local and non-local interactions in correlated electronic systems, which is based on the combination of the (extended) dynamical mean-field theory ((E)DMFT) and the two-particle irreducible functional renormaliztion-group (2PI-fRG) method. The considering approach uses self-energy and the two-particle irreducible vertices, obtained from (E)DMFT, as an input of 2PI-fRG approach. Using 2PI vertices may improve the applicability of various truncations and fulfilling conservation laws in comparison with one-particle irreducible approaches. In case of purely local interaction in a certain truncation of the DMFT+2PI-fRG equations, the obtained equation for the self-energy has a similar, although not identical, structure to that in the ladder dynamic vertex approximation (D$\Gamma $A). For the non-local interactions, in a simplest truncation we reproduce the results for the two-particle vertices/susceptibilities in the ladder approximation of the dual boson approach, but obtain different equation for the self-energy with a correct treatment of the one-particel reducible vertices of higher orders. The proposed scheme is rather general and can be applied to study various phenomena in strongly-correlated electronic systems, e.g. as a tool describing ab initio screening of the Coulomb interaction in strongly correlated systems.
Strongly correlated electron systems host a plethora of fascinating physical phenomena and pose formidable challenges in their theoretical analysis. The challenges originate from the inherent complexity of the quantum many-body problem - no classical computer will ever be able to fully simulate these systems - and the lack of an effective single-particle picture, as the strong mutual interactions make it impossible to regard the electrons as independent from each other. As a consequence, most systems of correlated electrons can only be tackled approximately and numerically. In this thesis, we develop a set of numerical methods for strongly correlated electrons, which are inspired by the renormalization group (RG) idea of including degrees of freedom successively from high to low energies. This enables an efficient organization of the diverse fluctuations and is key for an accurate treatment of interacting quantum systems, where collective behavior and composite objects emerge at energy scales far below those of the microscopic constituents. In a first part, we consider the functional renormalization group (fRG), a versatile framework to study the flow of correlation functions upon modulating the underlying action. Though widely used, it has often acted more as a qualitative rather than quantitative method, due a nontransparent approximation induced by truncating the hierarchy of flow equations. We develop an iterative multiloop fRG (mfRG) scheme, which ameliorates this approximation and eliminates many of the drawbacks of fRG experienced hitherto. In particular, it restores the independence of results on the choice of RG regulator and establishes a rigorous relation to the parquet formalism. Furthermore, we show how to derive the flow equations directly from self-consistent many-body relations. This establishes a form of diagrammatic resummations at the two-particle level which circumvents ill-behaved two-particle-irreducible vertices. An application to the prototypical two-dimensional Hubbard model illustrates how our multiloop scheme elevates the fRG approach to correlated electron systems to a quantitative level. Secondly, we employ the numerical renormalization group (NRG), based on the iterative diagonalization of impurity Hamiltonians, in conjunction with the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) to describe local correlations in multiorbital systems. Having access to arbitrarily low temperatures and energies, NRG is a unique, real-frequency impurity solver for DMFT. It has been pivotal to the understanding of Hund metals, where strong correlations arise from Hund's rules even at moderate Coulomb repulsion. Building on recent methodological advances, we extend the range of application of DMFT+NRG from orbital-degenerate models to more realistic setups: We first study orbital differentiation in a three-orbital Hund-metal model and unravel key effects of the orbital-selective Mott transition. In a real-materials setting, we then incorporate the bandstructure from density functional theory (DFT) and analyze the archetypal Hund-metal material Sr2RuO4. We particularly follow its RG flow to the Fermi-liquid regime at previously inaccessible low temperatures and generally present DFT+DMFT+NRG as a new computational paradigm for strongly correlated materials. As a side project of our fRG work, we develop an algorithm to count Feynman diagrams from closed many-body relations, which reveals the surprising outcome that totally irreducible contributions are responsible for the factorial growth in the number of diagrams. Additionally, we use NRG to study transport through three-level quantum dots and provide benchmark data for other RG methods, which aim at further describing these systems in nonequilibrium.