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:2103.09242 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Superconductivity, charge density waves, and bipolarons in the Holstein model

Benjamin Nosarzewski, Edwin W. Huang, Philip M. Dee, Ilya Esterlis, Brian Moritz, Steven Allan Kivelson, Steven Johnston, Thomas Devereaux

Published Jun 24, 2021• 37 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The electron-phonon $(e\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ph})$ interaction remains of great interest in condensed matter physics and plays a vital role in realizing superconductors, charge density waves (CDW), and polarons. We study the two-dimensional Holstein model for $e\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ph}$ coupling using determinant quantum Monte Carlo across a wide range of its phase diagram as a function of temperature, electron density, dimensionless $e\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ph}$ coupling strength, and the adiabatic ratio of the phonon frequency to the Fermi energy. We describe the behavior of the CDW correlations, the competition between superconducting and CDW orders and polaron formation, the optimal conditions for superconductivity, and the transition from the weak-coupling regime to the strong-coupling regime. Superconductivity is optimized at intermediate $e\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ph}$ coupling strength and intermediate electron density, and the superconducting correlations increase monotonically with phonon frequency. The global maximum for superconductivity in the Holstein model occurs at large phonon frequency, the limit where an attractive Hubbard model effectively describes the physics.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.103.235156

Related papers

Phonon Dispersion and the Competition between Pairing and Charge Order

Natanael C. Costa, Thomas Blommel, Wei-ting Chiu +2 more

The Holstein model describes the interaction between fermions and a collection of local (dispersionless) phonon modes. In the dilute limit, the phonon degrees of freedom dress the fermions, giving rise to polaron and bipolaron formation. At higher densities, the phonons mediate collective superconducting (SC) and charge-density wave (CDW) phases. Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations have considered both these limits but have not yet focused on the physics of more general phonon spectra. Here we report QMC studies of the role of phonon dispersion on SC and CDW order in such models. We quantify the effect of finite phonon bandwidth and curvature on the critical temperature T_{cdw} for CDW order and also uncover several novel features of diagonal long-range order in the phase diagram, including a competition between charge patterns at momenta q=(π,π) and q=(0,π) which lends insight into the relationship between Fermi surface nesting and the wave vector at which charge order occurs. We also demonstrate SC order at half filling in situations where a nonzero bandwidth sufficiently suppresses T_{cdw}.

arXiv:1712.04072•Physical Review Letters•May 4, 2018•69 citations

Superconductivity and charge density wave order in the two-dimensional Holstein model

Owen Bradley, G. G. Batrouni, Richard T. Scalettar

The Holstein Hamiltonian describes fermions hopping on a lattice and interacting locally with dispersionless phonon degrees of freedom. In the low-density limit, dressed quasiparticles, polarons and bipolarons, propagate with an effective mass. At higher densities, pairs can condense into a low-temperature superconducting phase and, at or near commensurate filling on a bipartite lattice, to charge density wave (CDW) order. CDW formation breaks a discrete symmetry and hence occurs via a second-order (Ising) transition and therefore at a finite ${T}_{\mathrm{cdw}}$ in two dimensions. Quantum Monte Carlo calculations have determined ${T}_{\mathrm{cdw}}$ for a variety of geometries, including square, honeycomb, and Lieb lattices. The superconducting transition, on the other hand, in $d=2$ is in the Kosterlitz-Thouless universality class and is much less well characterized. In this paper we determine ${T}_{\mathrm{sc}}$ for the square lattice for several values of the density $\ensuremath{\rho}$ and phonon frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}$. We find that quasilong-range order sets in at ${T}_{\mathrm{sc}}\ensuremath{\lesssim}t/20$, where $t$ is the near-neighbor hopping amplitude, consistent with previous rough estimates from simulations which extrapolated to only the temperatures we reach from considerably higher $T$. We also show evidence of a discontinuous evolution of the density as the CDW transition is approached at half filling.

arXiv:2011.11703•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Jun 1, 2021•52 citations

Superconductivity, charge-density waves, antiferromagnetism, and phase separation in the Hubbard-Holstein model

Seher Karakuzu, Luca F. Tocchio, Sandro Sorella +1 more

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.

arXiv:1709.00278•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Nov 27, 2017•54 citations

Phase diagram of the two-dimensional Hubbard-Holstein model: enhancement of $s$-wave pairing between charge and magnetic orders

Natanael C. Costa, Kazuhiro Seki, Seiji Yunoki +1 more

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.

arXiv:1910.01146•Oct 2, 2019•0 citations

Phase diagram of the two-dimensional Hubbard-Holstein model

Natanael C. Costa, Kazuhiro Seki, Seiji Yunoki +1 more

Abstract The electron–electron and electron–phonon interactions play an important role in correlated materials, being key features for spin, charge and pair correlations. Thus, here we investigate their effects 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, favouring (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.

Communications Physics•May 8, 2020•68 citations

A comparative study of the superconductivity in the Holstein and optical Su-Schrieffer-Heeger models

Andy Tanjaroon Ly, Benjamin Cohen-Stead, Sohan Malkaruge Costa +1 more

Theoretical studies suggest that Su-Schrieffer-Heeger-like electron-phonon ($e$-ph) interactions can mediate high-temperature bipolaronic superconductivity that is robust against repulsive electron-electron interactions. Here we present a comparative analysis of the pairing and competing charge/bond correlations in the two-dimensional Holstein and optical Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) models using numerically exact determinant quantum Monte Carlo. We find that the SSH interactions support light bipolarons and strong superconducting correlations out to relatively large values of the $e$-ph coupling $λ$ and densities near half-filling, while the Holstein interaction does not due to the formation of heavy bipolarons and competing charge-density-wave order. We further find that the Holstein and SSH models have comparable pairing correlations in the weak coupling limit for carrier concentrations $\langle n \rangle \ll 1$, where competing orders and polaronic effects are absent. These results support the proposal that SSH (bi)polarons can support superconductivity to larger values of $λ$ in comparison to the Holstein polaron, but that the resulting $T_\mathrm{c}$ gains are small in the weak coupling limit. We also find that the SSH model's pairing correlations are suppressed after including a weak on-site Hubbard repulsion. These results have important implications for identifying and engineering bipolaronic superconductivity.

arXiv:2307.10809•Jul 20, 2023•0 citations
The electron-phonon (e\ensuremath-ph)(e\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ph})(e\ensuremath-ph) interaction remains of great interest in condensed matter physics and plays a vital role in realizing superconductors, charge density waves (CDW), and polarons. We study the two-dimensional Holstein model for e\ensuremath-phe\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ph}e\ensuremath-ph coupling using determinant quantum Monte Carlo across a wide range of its phase diagram as a function of temperature, electron density, dimensionless e\ensuremath-phe\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ph}e\ensuremath-ph coupling strength, and the adiabatic ratio of the phonon frequency to the Fermi energy. We describe the behavior of the CDW correlations, the competition between superconducting and CDW orders and polaron formation, the optimal conditions for superconductivity, and the transition from the weak-coupling regime to the strong-coupling regime. Superconductivity is optimized at intermediate e\ensuremath-phe\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ph}e\ensuremath-ph coupling strength and intermediate electron density, and the superconducting correlations increase monotonically with phonon frequency. The global maximum for superconductivity in the Holstein model occurs at large phonon frequency, the limit where an attractive Hubbard model effectively describes the physics.
The Holstein model describes the interaction between fermions and a collection of local (dispersionless) phonon modes. In the dilute limit, the phonon degrees of freedom dress the fermions, giving rise to polaron and bipolaron formation. At higher densities, the phonons mediate collective superconducting (SC) and charge-density wave (CDW) phases. Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations have considered both these limits but have not yet focused on the physics of more general phonon spectra. Here we report QMC studies of the role of phonon dispersion on SC and CDW order in such models. We quantify the effect of finite phonon bandwidth and curvature on the critical temperature T_{cdw} for CDW order and also uncover several novel features of diagonal long-range order in the phase diagram, including a competition between charge patterns at momenta q=(π,π) and q=(0,π) which lends insight into the relationship between Fermi surface nesting and the wave vector at which charge order occurs. We also demonstrate SC order at half filling in situations where a nonzero bandwidth sufficiently suppresses T_{cdw}.
The Holstein Hamiltonian describes fermions hopping on a lattice and interacting locally with dispersionless phonon degrees of freedom. In the low-density limit, dressed quasiparticles, polarons and bipolarons, propagate with an effective mass. At higher densities, pairs can condense into a low-temperature superconducting phase and, at or near commensurate filling on a bipartite lattice, to charge density wave (CDW) order. CDW formation breaks a discrete symmetry and hence occurs via a second-order (Ising) transition and therefore at a finite Tcdw{T}_{\mathrm{cdw}}Tcdw​ in two dimensions. Quantum Monte Carlo calculations have determined Tcdw{T}_{\mathrm{cdw}}Tcdw​ for a variety of geometries, including square, honeycomb, and Lieb lattices. The superconducting transition, on the other hand, in d=2d=2d=2 is in the Kosterlitz-Thouless universality class and is much less well characterized. In this paper we determine Tsc{T}_{\mathrm{sc}}Tsc​ for the square lattice for several values of the density $\ensuremath{\rho}$ and phonon frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}$. We find that quasilong-range order sets in at ${T}_{\mathrm{sc}}\ensuremath{\lesssim}t/20$, where ttt is the near-neighbor hopping amplitude, consistent with previous rough estimates from simulations which extrapolated to only the temperatures we reach from considerably higher TTT. We also show evidence of a discontinuous evolution of the density as the CDW transition is approached at half filling.
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 ttt, the on-site electron-electron interaction UUU, the phonon energy ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}$, and the electron-phonon coupling ggg. 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/tU/tU/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.
Phase diagram of the two-dimensional Hubbard-Holstein model: enhancement of sss-wave pairing between charge and magnetic orders
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) sss-wave pairs. Our study sheds light over past inconsistencies in the literature, in particular the emergence of CDW in the pure Holstein model case.
Abstract The electron–electron and electron–phonon interactions play an important role in correlated materials, being key features for spin, charge and pair correlations. Thus, here we investigate their effects 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, favouring (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.
Theoretical studies suggest that Su-Schrieffer-Heeger-like electron-phonon (eee-ph) interactions can mediate high-temperature bipolaronic superconductivity that is robust against repulsive electron-electron interactions. Here we present a comparative analysis of the pairing and competing charge/bond correlations in the two-dimensional Holstein and optical Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) models using numerically exact determinant quantum Monte Carlo. We find that the SSH interactions support light bipolarons and strong superconducting correlations out to relatively large values of the eee-ph coupling λλλ and densities near half-filling, while the Holstein interaction does not due to the formation of heavy bipolarons and competing charge-density-wave order. We further find that the Holstein and SSH models have comparable pairing correlations in the weak coupling limit for carrier concentrations ⟨n⟩≪1\langle n \rangle \ll 1⟨n⟩≪1, where competing orders and polaronic effects are absent. These results support the proposal that SSH (bi)polarons can support superconductivity to larger values of λλλ in comparison to the Holstein polaron, but that the resulting TcT_\mathrm{c}Tc​ gains are small in the weak coupling limit. We also find that the SSH model's pairing correlations are suppressed after including a weak on-site Hubbard repulsion. These results have important implications for identifying and engineering bipolaronic superconductivity.