arXiv:1505.01498 · Physical Review B
Holon-doublon binding as the mechanism for the Mott transition
Peter Prelovšek, J. Kokalj, Zala Lenarčič, Ross H. McKenzie
Abstract
We study the binding of a holon to a doublon in a half-filled Hubbard model as the mechanism of the zero-temperature metal-insulator transition. In a spin polarized system a single holon-doublon (HD) pair exhibits a binding transition on a 3D lattice, or a sharp crossover on a 2D lattice, corresponding well to the standard Mott transition in unpolarized systems. We extend the HD-pair study towards nonpolarized systems by considering more general spin background and by treating the finite HD density within a BCS-type approximation. Both approaches lead to a discontinuous transition away from the fully polarized system and give density correlations consistent with numerical results on a triangular lattice.