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arXiv:1512.02313 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

The Holstein polaron problem revisited

Amin Tayebi, Vladimir Zelevinsky

Published May 16, 2016• 6 citations

Abstract

Abstract The Holstein Hamiltonian was proposed half a century ago; since then, decades of research have come up empty handed in the pursuit of a closed-form solution. An exact solution to the two-site Holstein model is presented in this paper. The obtained results provide a clear image of the Hamiltonian structure and allow for the investigation of the symmetry, energy level crossings and polaronic characteristics of the system. The main mathematical tool is a three-term recurrence relation between the wave function amplitudes, which was obtained using the properties of a family of orthogonal functions, namely the Poisson–Charlier polynomials. It is shown that, with the appropriate choice of basis, the eigenfunctions of the problem naturally fall into two families (parities) associated with the discrete Z 2 symmetry of the Hamiltonian. The asymptotic solution to the recurrence relation is found by using the Birkhoff expansion. The asymptotic sets the truncation criterion for the wave function, which ensures the accurate calculation of the energy levels for any strength of electron–phonon interaction. The level crossing of states with different parities is discussed and the exact points of broken symmetry are found analytically. The results are used as the building blocks for studying a four-site system. The inherited symmetries lead to the formation of a sparse matrix that is convenient for numerical calculations.

DOI: 10.1088/1751-8113/49/25/255004

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Abstract The Holstein Hamiltonian was proposed half a century ago; since then, decades of research have come up empty handed in the pursuit of a closed-form solution. An exact solution to the two-site Holstein model is presented in this paper. The obtained results provide a clear image of the Hamiltonian structure and allow for the investigation of the symmetry, energy level crossings and polaronic characteristics of the system. The main mathematical tool is a three-term recurrence relation between the wave function amplitudes, which was obtained using the properties of a family of orthogonal functions, namely the Poisson–Charlier polynomials. It is shown that, with the appropriate choice of basis, the eigenfunctions of the problem naturally fall into two families (parities) associated with the discrete Z 2 symmetry of the Hamiltonian. The asymptotic solution to the recurrence relation is found by using the Birkhoff expansion. The asymptotic sets the truncation criterion for the wave function, which ensures the accurate calculation of the energy levels for any strength of electron–phonon interaction. The level crossing of states with different parities is discussed and the exact points of broken symmetry are found analytically. The results are used as the building blocks for studying a four-site system. The inherited symmetries lead to the formation of a sparse matrix that is convenient for numerical calculations.

The polaron problem presents a highly nonlinear dynamical system in which the charge and lattice deformations are intricately coupled together. The coherent state expansion method was applied to the two-site Holstein model. Analytical solutions are found for the first, the second and the third order approximations. Comparison is made among the exact numerical results, based upon solving a recursive relation for the expansion coefficients, and the analytical solutions up to the third order approximation for various e-ph coupling strengths and electron hopping parameters.

We study ground-state properties of a two-site, two-electron Holstein model describing two molecules coupled indirectly via electron-phonon interaction by using both exact diagonalization and self-consistent diagrammatic many-body perturbation theory. The Hartree and self-consistent Born approximations used in the present work are studied at different levels of self-consistency. The governing equations are shown to exhibit multiple solutions when the electron-phonon interaction is sufficiently strong, whereas at smaller interactions, only a single solution is found. The additional solutions at larger electron-phonon couplings correspond to symmetry-broken states with inhomogeneous electron densities. A comparison to exact results indicates that this symmetry breaking is strongly correlated with the formation of a bipolaron state in which the two electrons prefer to reside on the same molecule. The results further show that the Hartree and partially self-consistent Born solutions obtained by enforcing symmetry do not compare well with exact energetics, while the fully self-consistent Born approximation improves the qualitative and quantitative agreement with exact results in the same symmetric case. This together with a presented natural occupation number analysis supports the conclusion that the fully self-consistent approximation describes partially the bipolaron crossover. These results contribute to better understanding how these approximations cope with the strong localizing effect of the electron-phonon interaction.

The two-site Holstein model is studied by the analytical method of the coherent-state expansion. We obtain the recursive relationship among the expansion coefficients, which leads to the exact solutions of the eigenstate properties. The exact ground-state results in the whole coupling strength region and from antiadiabatic to adiabatic limits are in perfect agreement with that available by the exact numerical diagonalization technique. Comparison with the best perturbation results shows the success and shortcoming of the perturbative method. The coherent-state expansion method is a promising approach in studying electron-phonon $(e\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{ph})$ coupling systems.

The Holstein Hubbard and Holstein t-J models are studied for a wide range of phonon frequencies, electron-electron, and electron-phonon interaction strengths on finite lattices with up to ten sites by means of direct Lanczos diagonalization. Previously the necessary truncation of the phononic Hilbert space caused serious limitations to either very small systems (four or even two sites) or to weak electron-phonon coupling, in particular in the adiabatic regime. Using parallel computers we were able to investigate the transition from ``large'' to ``small'' polarons in detail. By resolving the low-lying eigenstates of the Hamiltonian and by calculating the spectral function, we can identify a polaron band in the strong-coupling case, whose dispersion deviates from the free-particle dispersion at low and intermediate phonon frequencies. For two electrons (holes) we establish the existence of bipolaronic states and discuss the formation of a bipolaron band. For the two-dimensional Holstein t-J model, we demonstrate that the formation of hole polarons is favored by strong Coulomb correlations. Analyzing hole-hole correlation functions, we find that hole binding is enhanced as a dynamical effect of the electron-phonon interaction. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

The phonon spectral function of the one-dimensional Holstein model is obtained within weak and strong-coupling approximations based on analytical self-energy calculations.The characteristic excitations found in the limit of small charge-carrier density are related to the known (electronic) spectral properties of Holstein polarons such as the polaron band dispersion.Particular emphasis is laid on the different physics occurring in the adiabatic and antiadiabatic regimes, respectively.Comparison is made with a cluster approach exploiting exact numerical results on small systems to yield an approximation for the thermodynamic limit.This method, similar to cluster perturbation theory, confirms the analytical findings, and yields accurate results also in the intermediate-coupling regime.

The phonon spectral function of the one-dimensional Holstein model is obtained within weak and strong-coupling approximations based on analytical self-energy calculations. The characteristic excitations found in the limit of small charge-carrier density are related to the known (electronic) spectral properties of Holstein polarons such as the polaron band dispersion. Particular emphasis is laid on the different physics occurring in the adiabatic and anti-adiabatic regimes, respectively. Comparison is made with a cluster approach exploiting exact numerical results on small systems to yield an approximation for the thermodynamic limit. This method, similar to cluster perturbation theory, confirms the analytical findings, and yields accurate results also in the intermediate-coupling regime.