Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2102.12348

Squeezed-field path-integral description of BCS superconductors

Kazuma Nagao, Li, Dapeng, Ludwig Mathey

Published Feb 24, 2021• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We develop a squeezed-field path-integral representation for BCS superconductors utilizing a generalized completeness relation of squeezed-fermionic coherent states. We derive a Grassmann path integral of fermionic quasiparticles that explicitly includes the collective degrees of freedom of the order-parameter dynamics governed by the classical Anderson pseudospin model. Based on this method, we analyze the spectral function of the single-particle excitations, and show that the squeezed-field path integral for the BCS Hamiltonian describes a bosonic sideband branch that corresponds to the Higgs amplitude mode of BCS superconductors, in addition to reproducing the quasiparticle and quasihole excitation branches described by the BCS mean-field approximation.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2102.12348

Related papers

Spectral properties of the boson-fermion model in the superconducting state

T. Kostyrko, J. Ranninger

The spectral properties of a mixture of bosons hybridized with fermion pairs are studied in the superconducting state. Such a model exhibits two limiting behaviors. One is reminiscent of a BCS system, provided that the total concentration n of particles is below a certain critical concentration ${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{c}}$, in which case bosons exist only in thermally excited states. The other limit for n\ensuremath{\geqslant}${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{c}}$ describes a situation largely controlled by the condensation of the bosons. The variation of the single-boson as well as collective excitations as a function of n and for the entire temperature regime from T=0 K to ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$ will be discussed, both with and without long-range Coulomb interaction between the charge carriers. The method for calculation applied here is based on the dielectric formalism and the use of Ward identities, currently used in the theory of the interacting Bose gas, which allows us to derive the density and current correlation functions consistent with local charge-current conservation laws. In the absence of a Coulomb interaction the behavior of the system is characterized by the existence of a sound-wave-like branch in the Bose single-particle and collective excitation spectrum. In the BCS regime the sound velocity is proportional to the Fermi velocity while in the Bose regime it is proportional to the strength of the boson-fermion hybridization and decreases with the superfluid density as we approach ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$. In the presence of a long-range Coulomb interaction and in the Bose regime one observes, besides the usual optical plasmon mode at high frequency and corresponding to in-phase density oscillation of the two subsytems, an out-of-phase collective mode in the two particle continuum just above the gap. Moreover, upon approaching ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$ a relatively well-defined quasiparticle feature starts to emerge within the gap and is seen in both the Bose single-particle excitation and the density oscillation spectrum. In the BCS regime, due to the very small number of occupied bosonic states, the low-energy quasiparticle features are absent. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Nov 1, 1996•47 citations

Path Integral Methods for Single Band Hubbard Model

N. Heydari, S. Azakov

We review various ways to express the partition function of the single-band Hubard model as a path integral. The emphasis is made on the derivation of the action in the integrand of the path integral and the results obtained from this approach are discussed only briefly. Since the single-band Hubbard model is a pure fermionic model on the lattice and its Hamiltonian is a polynomial in creation and annihilation fermionic operators, with the help of the fermionic coherent states of holomorphic representions the partition function of the model can be straightforwardly expressed as a path integral with respect to Grassmann fields. Then the question arises how to calculate this path integral specially in the most interesting case of the strong coupling, which is described by the term quartic in the fermion fields. The standard way to get rid of this quartic term is to use so-called Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation by introducing auxilary boson field (this procedure is usually called bosonization). Since there are several equivalent forms of the interaction term in the single-band Hubbard model the bosonization procedure is not unique. In the first section of the article we discuss two types of bosoniztions one with two real scalar fields (charge and spin fields) and another with a real vector field. The second section is devoted to a spin-rotation-invariant bosonization procedure invented by Schulz and Weng, Ting and Lee, where an arbitary quantization axis is introduced at each point in space and time and an integration over all possible orientations enters the path integral measure. Spin rotation invariant formulation is necessary to study e.g. spiral magnetization. In the third section we present the contstruction of a path integral for the partition function when the single-band Hubbard Hamiltonian is written in terms of the Hubbard operators, which are elements of the doubly graded semi-simple algebra. In this case one should use generalized coherent states for superalgebra in order to get a path integral formulation. We follow the procedure proposed recently by T ngler and Kopp, to investigate the case of strong coupling.

•Apr 1, 1997•0 citations

Collective modes in non-Hermitian fermionic superfluids

Gabriel Angelo V. Vila, Kristian Hauser Villegas

The Higgs and Nambu-Goldstone modes are paradigmatic collective excitations in superconductors and superfluids. These modes are commonly analyzed within the pseudospin formulation of BCS theory, where the dynamics are obtained from the Heisenberg equations of motion for pseudospins. However, this construction becomes inconsistent when directly extended to non-Hermitian systems. In this work, we develop a consistent pseudospin framework for non-Hermitian fermionic superfluids based on the metricized formulation of non-Hermitian quantum mechanics. We apply this formalism to a driven non-Hermitian BCS-type Hamiltonian with complex pairing interaction and analyze its collective excitation spectrum. We find that, in addition to the conventional Higgs (amplitude) mode, the system hosts a novel phase mode that has no counterpart in Hermitian superfluids. Remarkably, this mode is gapped even in the absence of the Anderson-Higgs mechanism, as is the case in neutral superfluids. Furthermore, the resonance spectrum depends explicitly on the initial nongauge phase of the complex order parameter and the dynamical response remains finite at resonance, in contrast to the divergence characteristic of Hermitian systems. These resonances disappear upon the emergence of exceptional points.

cond-mat.supr-conCross-listedarXiv:2607.18814•Jul 22, 2026•0 citations

BCS states as squeezed fermion-pair states

W.S. Liu, X.P. Li

A new formulation of the Bogoliubov-Valatin transformation explicitly parameter-dependent and with no quasiparticle operators is derived and applied to a diagonalization of the BCS reduced Hamiltonian in the particle space. It is shown that the eigenstates of this Hamiltonian are just the BCS states and are a kind of squeezed fermion-pair states as well.

The European Physical Journal D•Jan 1, 1998•6 citations

Quasi-Particle Theory for the Higgs Amplitude Mode

Ulf Bissbort, Michael Buchhold, Walter Hofstetter

We present a generalized quasi-particle theory for bosonic lattice systems, which naturally contains all relevant collective modes, including the Higgs amplitude in the strongly correlated superfluid. In contrast to Bogoliubov theory, this non-perturbative method does not rely on a small condensate depletion and is valid for any interaction strength in three spatial dimensions. It is based on an expansion around the bosonic Gutzwiller ground state in terms of appropriately chosen fluctuation operators and lays the foundation for the description of real-time dynamics in terms of the natural, weakly interacting quasi-particles. Furthermore, it provides a systematic framework for efficiently calculating observables beyond the Gutzwiller approximation and for including external perturbations, as well as higher order decay and interactions in terms of quasi-particle operators. It allows for the construction of an alternative path integral approach in terms of quasi-particle coherent states.

arXiv:1401.4466•Jan 17, 2014•0 citations

Coherent-state path integrals in quantum thermodynamics

Luca Salasnich, Cesare Vianello

In these notes, we elucidate some subtle aspects of coherent-state path integrals, focusing on their application to the equilibrium thermodynamics of quantum many-particle systems. These subtleties emerge when evaluating path integrals in the continuum, either in imaginary time or in Matsubara-frequency space. Our central message is that, when handled with due care, the path integral yields results identical to those obtained from the canonical Hamiltonian approach. We illustrate this through a pedagogical treatment of several paradigmatic systems: the bosonic and fermionic harmonic oscillators, the single-site Bose-Hubbard and Hubbard models, the weakly-interacting Bose gas with finite-range interactions, and the BCS superconductor with finite-range interactions.

arXiv:2511.11547•SciPost Physics Lecture Notes•Feb 18, 2026•1 citation
We develop a squeezed-field path-integral representation for BCS superconductors utilizing a generalized completeness relation of squeezed-fermionic coherent states. We derive a Grassmann path integral of fermionic quasiparticles that explicitly includes the collective degrees of freedom of the order-parameter dynamics governed by the classical Anderson pseudospin model. Based on this method, we analyze the spectral function of the single-particle excitations, and show that the squeezed-field path integral for the BCS Hamiltonian describes a bosonic sideband branch that corresponds to the Higgs amplitude mode of BCS superconductors, in addition to reproducing the quasiparticle and quasihole excitation branches described by the BCS mean-field approximation.
The spectral properties of a mixture of bosons hybridized with fermion pairs are studied in the superconducting state. Such a model exhibits two limiting behaviors. One is reminiscent of a BCS system, provided that the total concentration n of particles is below a certain critical concentration nc{\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{c}}nc​, in which case bosons exist only in thermally excited states. The other limit for n\ensuremath{\geqslant}nc{\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{c}}nc​ describes a situation largely controlled by the condensation of the bosons. The variation of the single-boson as well as collective excitations as a function of n and for the entire temperature regime from T=0 K to Tc{\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}Tc​ will be discussed, both with and without long-range Coulomb interaction between the charge carriers. The method for calculation applied here is based on the dielectric formalism and the use of Ward identities, currently used in the theory of the interacting Bose gas, which allows us to derive the density and current correlation functions consistent with local charge-current conservation laws. In the absence of a Coulomb interaction the behavior of the system is characterized by the existence of a sound-wave-like branch in the Bose single-particle and collective excitation spectrum. In the BCS regime the sound velocity is proportional to the Fermi velocity while in the Bose regime it is proportional to the strength of the boson-fermion hybridization and decreases with the superfluid density as we approach Tc{\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}Tc​. In the presence of a long-range Coulomb interaction and in the Bose regime one observes, besides the usual optical plasmon mode at high frequency and corresponding to in-phase density oscillation of the two subsytems, an out-of-phase collective mode in the two particle continuum just above the gap. Moreover, upon approaching Tc{\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}Tc​ a relatively well-defined quasiparticle feature starts to emerge within the gap and is seen in both the Bose single-particle excitation and the density oscillation spectrum. In the BCS regime, due to the very small number of occupied bosonic states, the low-energy quasiparticle features are absent. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
We review various ways to express the partition function of the single-band Hubard model as a path integral. The emphasis is made on the derivation of the action in the integrand of the path integral and the results obtained from this approach are discussed only briefly. Since the single-band Hubbard model is a pure fermionic model on the lattice and its Hamiltonian is a polynomial in creation and annihilation fermionic operators, with the help of the fermionic coherent states of holomorphic representions the partition function of the model can be straightforwardly expressed as a path integral with respect to Grassmann fields. Then the question arises how to calculate this path integral specially in the most interesting case of the strong coupling, which is described by the term quartic in the fermion fields. The standard way to get rid of this quartic term is to use so-called Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation by introducing auxilary boson field (this procedure is usually called bosonization). Since there are several equivalent forms of the interaction term in the single-band Hubbard model the bosonization procedure is not unique. In the first section of the article we discuss two types of bosoniztions one with two real scalar fields (charge and spin fields) and another with a real vector field. The second section is devoted to a spin-rotation-invariant bosonization procedure invented by Schulz and Weng, Ting and Lee, where an arbitary quantization axis is introduced at each point in space and time and an integration over all possible orientations enters the path integral measure. Spin rotation invariant formulation is necessary to study e.g. spiral magnetization. In the third section we present the contstruction of a path integral for the partition function when the single-band Hubbard Hamiltonian is written in terms of the Hubbard operators, which are elements of the doubly graded semi-simple algebra. In this case one should use generalized coherent states for superalgebra in order to get a path integral formulation. We follow the procedure proposed recently by T ngler and Kopp, to investigate the case of strong coupling.
The Higgs and Nambu-Goldstone modes are paradigmatic collective excitations in superconductors and superfluids. These modes are commonly analyzed within the pseudospin formulation of BCS theory, where the dynamics are obtained from the Heisenberg equations of motion for pseudospins. However, this construction becomes inconsistent when directly extended to non-Hermitian systems. In this work, we develop a consistent pseudospin framework for non-Hermitian fermionic superfluids based on the metricized formulation of non-Hermitian quantum mechanics. We apply this formalism to a driven non-Hermitian BCS-type Hamiltonian with complex pairing interaction and analyze its collective excitation spectrum. We find that, in addition to the conventional Higgs (amplitude) mode, the system hosts a novel phase mode that has no counterpart in Hermitian superfluids. Remarkably, this mode is gapped even in the absence of the Anderson-Higgs mechanism, as is the case in neutral superfluids. Furthermore, the resonance spectrum depends explicitly on the initial nongauge phase of the complex order parameter and the dynamical response remains finite at resonance, in contrast to the divergence characteristic of Hermitian systems. These resonances disappear upon the emergence of exceptional points.
We present a generalized quasi-particle theory for bosonic lattice systems, which naturally contains all relevant collective modes, including the Higgs amplitude in the strongly correlated superfluid. In contrast to Bogoliubov theory, this non-perturbative method does not rely on a small condensate depletion and is valid for any interaction strength in three spatial dimensions. It is based on an expansion around the bosonic Gutzwiller ground state in terms of appropriately chosen fluctuation operators and lays the foundation for the description of real-time dynamics in terms of the natural, weakly interacting quasi-particles. Furthermore, it provides a systematic framework for efficiently calculating observables beyond the Gutzwiller approximation and for including external perturbations, as well as higher order decay and interactions in terms of quasi-particle operators. It allows for the construction of an alternative path integral approach in terms of quasi-particle coherent states.
In these notes, we elucidate some subtle aspects of coherent-state path integrals, focusing on their application to the equilibrium thermodynamics of quantum many-particle systems. These subtleties emerge when evaluating path integrals in the continuum, either in imaginary time or in Matsubara-frequency space. Our central message is that, when handled with due care, the path integral yields results identical to those obtained from the canonical Hamiltonian approach. We illustrate this through a pedagogical treatment of several paradigmatic systems: the bosonic and fermionic harmonic oscillators, the single-site Bose-Hubbard and Hubbard models, the weakly-interacting Bose gas with finite-range interactions, and the BCS superconductor with finite-range interactions.