An approximation method developed previously to deal with many particles in strong interaction is examined in further detail. It is shown that the series giving the interaction energy is a development in a sequence of linked or irreducible cluster terms each of which gives a contribution to the energy proportional to the total number of particles. Consequently the convergence of the expansion is independent of the total number of particles. The origin of this simple feature is illustrated by showing that a similar situation exists in the expansion of standard perturbation theory. The numerical convergence of the expansion is quantitatively discussed for the nuclear problem where it is shown that the correction arising from the first cluster term involving three particles is less than the leading term by a factor of about ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$. The smallness of the correction is largely a result of the action of the exclusion principle.
Using a dual representation of lattice fermion models that is based on spin-charge transformation and fermionization of the original description, I derive an algorithm for diagrammatic Monte Carlo simulation of strongly correlated systems. This scheme allows eliminating large expansion parameters, as well as large corrections to the density matrix that generally prevent diagrammatic methods from being efficient in this regime. As an example, I compute the filling factor for the Hubbard model at infinite on-site repulsion and compare the results to controllable data obtained from numerical linked-cluster expansion. I find excellent agreement between the two methods, as well as rapid convergence of the diagrammatic series. I also report results for the momentum distribution and kinetic energy of the electrons.
The linked-cluster series expansion is developed fur use on models of quantum spin systems with single-ion potentials. The linked-cluster series is defined as a statistical mechanical perturbation series in which the mean-field Hamiltonian and the single-ion potential are treated exactly with the perturbation representing the effects of fluctuation correlations. All terms of the free energy up to a given finite order are calculated, and estimates of thermodynamic functions are made based on extrapolation methods including the ratio method and Pade approximants.
A linked-cluster expansion for the expectation values of operators between correlated wave functions of the Jastrow type is described. The expansion is based on the logarithm of the correlation function and leads to terms that are explicitly proportional to the particle number for infinite systems. The lowest-order terms for a weakly interacting system of spin-1/2 particles are calculated explicitly. From these, the Euler-Lagrange equations for the correlation functions have been calculated. The equation for the correlation function between particles of antiparallel spin can be solved by Fourier transform, and it is shown that for $r\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$, the correlation function behaves like
1+r2A. In the case of a system of particles interacting by hard-core repulsions, the logarithm of the correlation function does not exist inside the hard-core radius. It is then necessary to sum over ladder diagrams as in the derivation of the reaction matrix in many-body perturbation theory. This is carried out to provide a low-density approximation to the ground-state energy of the system and the Euler-Lagrange equation for the correlation function. It is argued that the correlation function again behaves like
1+r2A for large
r. The expansion is applied to the problem of calculating the correlation energy of the electron gas. It is shown that a variational calculation based on the lowest-order terms in an expansion of the wave function leads to a divergent result (unbounded from below), but that a convergent result is obtained by summing over ring diagrams, which correspond to long-range polarization of the electron cloud. The result is similar to that of Gaskell obtained by a somewhat different method. It is shown analytically that at high densities the result behaves logarithmically, specifically as $0.0570\mathrm{ln}{r}_{s}\ensuremath{-}0.1324$ Ry. The lowest-order exchange contributions have also been calculated and found to contribute 0.040 Ry to the energy at densities of physical interest.
The method of correlated basis functions provides a means of systematically exploiting our intuitive understanding of real physical systems. Here we seek especially to develop a formalism for describing systems of strongly interacting fermions, for example, nuclei and liquid
He3, using a complete set of correlated functions ${\ensuremath{\Psi}}_{\mathrm{m}}=\frac{F{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}{{({\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}, {F}^{2}{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}})}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$.
F is taken as a product of two-body factors, $\ensuremath{\Pi}{i<j}^{}[f({r}_{\mathrm{ij}})]$, the
f(rij) embodying at least the correlations arising from strong short-range repulsions; and ${{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$, a set of independent-particle-model functions which might serve as a basis in the absence of highly singular interactions. The matrix elements
Hmn,
Nmn of the Hamiltonian and identity operators with respect to the correlated basis ${{\ensuremath{\Psi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ are evaluated by generalization of cluster-expansion techniques developed originally for the calculation of the partition function of a classical imperfect gas and adapted to the quantum-mechanical many-body problem by Iwamoto and Yamada. Contributions to our expansions for the
Hmn are classified according to order of magnitude in the quantity $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$, where $\ensuremath{\omega}=\ensuremath{\int}({f}^{2}(r)\ensuremath{-}1)d\mathrm{r}$ is a "correlation parameter" and $\ensuremath{\rho}$ the average particle density. To the extent that $|\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}|$ is small, it provides a true expansion parameter. A detailed technical discussion of the cluster expansions is given, with special emphasis on their symmetry properties upon truncation. Although the many-body problem is soluble by simultaneous diagonalization of the matrices (
Hmn) and (
Nmn), it is preferable first to transform to an orthonormal basis of "unperturbed" correlated functions ${{\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ with respect to which the Hamiltonian and identity operators have the matrix representations (
Hmn) and $({N}_{\mathrm{mn}})=({\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\mathrm{mn}})$, and then to attempt the separate diagonalization of (
Hmn). In general, such a transformation is expedited by the L\"owdin procedure carried out to the desired order in $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$. However, a Schmidt orthogonalization scheme might prove more advantageous in specific cases. Field-theoretic techniques (of both perturbative and nonperturbative nature) may be brought to bear in the diagonalization of (
Hmn). The inverse of the unitary transformation which takes the basis ${{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ into the basis ${{\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$, applied to the given singular Hamiltonian, leads---for any
F in the class considered---to a non-singular "effective Hamiltonian." Following this formal cue, we set out to construct explicitly a second-quantized effective Hamiltonian which generates the same matrix elements, to prescribed order in $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$, when operating between independent-particle kets of the model occupation-number representation, as does the given Hamiltonian in the configuration-space representation, between the corresponding correlated functions of the L\"owdin basis. The quasiparticles described by this effective Hamiltonian interact via well-behaved two-body, three-body, \ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{},
Q-body, \ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{} potentials, in contrast to the highly singular two-body interactions of the real particles. For small $|\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}|$, the effective two-body forces predominate. An avenue to deeper understanding of the applicability of the nuclear-shell model and the dressed-quasiparticle theory of liquid
He3 has been opened. This article treats only the formalism for a uniform extended medium. Numerical calculations, as well as the extension of the method to finite systems, will follow.