Electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions are responsible for the formation of spin, charge, and superconducting correlations in layered quantum materials. A paradigmatic model for such materials that captures both kinds of interactions is the two-dimensional Hubbard-Holstein model with a dispersionless Einstein phonon. In this work, we provide a detailed analysis of the magnetic, density, and superconducting fluctuations at and away from half filling. To that end, we employ the functional renormalization group using the recently introduced extension of the single-boson exchange formulation. More precisely, we go beyond previous approaches to the model by resolving the full frequency dependence of the two-particle vertex and taking into account the feedback from the electronic self-energy. We perform broad parameter scans in the space of Hubbard repulsion, electron-phonon coupling strength, and phonon frequency to explore the leading magnetic, density, and superconducting susceptibilities from the adiabatic to the anti-adiabatic regime. Our numerical data reveal that self-energy effects lead to an enhancement of the d -wave superconducting susceptibility toward larger phonon frequencies, in contrast to earlier isotope-effect studies. At small phonon frequencies, large density contributions to the s -wave superconducting susceptibility change sign and eventually lead to a reduction of s -wave superconductivity with increasing electron-phonon coupling, signaling the breakdown of Migdal-Eliashberg theory. We analyze our findings systematically, employing detailed diagnostics of the intertwined fluctuations and pinning down the various positive and negative isotope effects of the physical susceptibilities. Our results pave the way for a more comprehensive understanding of the interplay of electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions in correlated quantum materials.
Recently, a flurry of works have found strong competition between charge density wave (CDW) and superconductivity (SC) in the doped Hubbard and $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ models on the square lattice. Interestingly, some recent results suggest that the electron-phonon coupling may suppress CDW order and enhance SC. In this work, we consider the square-lattice Hubbard model with the Holstein or Su-Schrieffer-Heeger electron-phonon coupling at the large-
U and antiadiabatic (infinite phonon frequency) limits, which gives an effective $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model with either a density attractive interaction
V or a
JP term that contributes a larger spin exchange and a density repulsive interaction. To explore how these effective couplings may tune the competition between CDW and SC, we implement the density matrix renormalization group simulations on the $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}{t}^{\ensuremath{'}}\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model with
V or
JP coupling. We focus on the six-leg cylinder system with the next-nearest-neighbor hopping ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$, which hosts partially filled stripe and
d-wave SC in phase diagram. By tuning ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}/t>0$ and
V or
JP, we establish two quantum phase diagrams at
121 doping ratio. In the SC phases, the increased
V or
JP coupling can enhance the quasi-long-range SC order, consistent with some previous findings. Nonetheless, no SC emerges when the partially filled stripe phase disappears with increased
V or
JP. Instead, the system has a transition to either a phase-separation-like regime or a filled stripe phase. On the other hand, with increased ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}/t$, not only the partially filled stripe but the phase separation and filled stripe can also be tuned to SC phase. Our results suggest that although
V and
JP couplings may strengthen hole binding, the hole dynamics controlled by ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}/t$ appears to play a more crucial role for obtaining a SC in the $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model.
Using a multistep renormalization group method, we study the low-temperature phases of the interacting one-dimensional (1D) electron gas coupled to phonons. We obtain analytic expressions for the weak-coupling quantum phase boundaries of the 1D extended Holstein-Hubbard model and the 1D extended Peierls-Hubbard model for general band-filling and phonon frequency. Away from half-filling, the phase diagrams are characterized by a delicate competition between spin density wave, charge density wave, and superconducting orders. We study the dependence of the ground state on the electron-phonon (el-ph) and electron-electron (el-el) coupling strengths, the screening length, electron bandwidth, phonon frequency, doping, and type of phonon. Unlike the case in Fermi liquids, in 1D the el-ph coupling is strongly renormalized, often to stronger values. Even when the bare phonon-induced attraction is weak compared to the bare el-el repulsion, a small amount of retardation can cause the renormalized el-ph interaction to dominate the problem. We find cases in which a repulsive el-el interaction enhances the superconducting susceptibility in the presence of a retarded el-ph interaction. The spin gap and superconducting susceptibility are found to be strongly dependent on the deviation from half-filling (doping). In some cases, the superconducting susceptibility varies nonmonotonically with doping and exhibits a maximum at a particular doping. For a quasi-1D array of weakly coupled, fluctuating 1D chains, the superconducting transition temperature
Tc also exhibits a maximum as a function of doping. The effect of changing the ion mass (isotope effect) on
Tc is found to be largest near half-filling and to decrease rapidly with doping.
We investigate the role of electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions in strongly correlated systems by performing unbiased quantum Monte Carlo simulations in the square lattice Hubbard-Holstein model at half-filling. We study the competition and interplay between antiferromagnetism (AFM) and charge-density wave (CDW), establishing its very rich phase diagram. In the region between AFM and CDW phases, we have found an enhancement of superconducting pairing correlations, favoring (nonlocal)
s-wave pairs. Our study sheds light over past inconsistencies in the literature, in particular the emergence of CDW in the pure Holstein model case.
We study the isotope effects arising from the coupling of correlated electrons with dispersionless phonons by considering the Hubbard-Holstein model at half-filling within the dynamical mean-field theory. In particular we calculate the isotope effects on the quasiparticle spectral weight
Z, the renormalized phonon frequency, and the static charge and spin susceptibilities. In the weakly correlated regime $U∕t\ensuremath{\lesssim}1.5$, where
U is the Hubbard repulsion and
t is the bare electron half-bandwidth, the physical properties are qualitatively similar to those characterizing the Holstein model in the absence of Coulomb repulsion, where the bipolaronic binding takes place at large electron-phonon coupling and it is reflected in divergent isotope responses. On the contrary in the strongly correlated regime $U∕t\ensuremath{\gtrsim}1.5$, where the bipolaronic metal-insulator transition becomes of first order, the isotope effects are bounded, suggesting that the first-order transition is likely driven by an electronic mechanism, rather then by a lattice instability. These results point out how the isotope responses are extremely sensitive to phase boundaries and they may be used to characterize the competition between the electron-phonon coupling and the Hubbard repulsion.
By using variational wave functions and quantum Monte Carlo techniques, we investigate the interplay between electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions in the two-dimensional Hubbard-Holstein model. Here, the ground-state phase diagram is triggered by several energy scales, i.e., the electron hopping
t, the on-site electron-electron interaction
U, the phonon energy ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}$, and the electron-phonon coupling
g. At half filling, the ground state is an antiferromagnetic insulator for $U\ensuremath{\gtrsim}2{g}^{2}/{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}$, while it is a charge-density-wave (or bipolaronic) insulator for $U\ensuremath{\lesssim}2{g}^{2}/{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}$. In addition to these phases, we find a superconducting phase that intrudes between them. For ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}/t=1$, superconductivity emerges when both
U/t and $2{g}^{2}/t{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}$ are small; then, by increasing the value of the phonon energy ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}$, it extends along the transition line between antiferromagnetic and charge-density-wave insulators. Away from half filling, phase separation occurs when doping the charge-density-wave insulator, while a uniform (superconducting) ground state is found when doping the superconducting phase. In the analysis of finite-size effects, it is extremely important to average over twisted boundary conditions, especially in the weak-coupling limit and in the doped case.