We present the T-flow renormalization group method, which computes the memory kernel for the density-operator evolution of an open quantum system by lowering the physical temperature T of its environment. This has the key advantage that it can be formulated directly in real time, making it particularly suitable for transient dynamics, while automatically accumulating the full temperature dependence of transport quantities. We solve the T-flow equations numerically for the example of the single impurity Anderson model. We benchmark in the stationary limit, readily accessible in real-time for voltages on the order of the coupling or larger using results obtained by the functional renormalization group, density-matrix renormalization group and the quantum Monte Carlo method. Here we find quantitative agreement even in the worst case of strong interactions and low temperatures, indicating the reliability of the method. For transient charge currents we find good agreement with results obtained by the 2PI Green's function approach. Furthermore, we analytically show that the short-time dynamics of both local and non-local observables follow a "universal" temperature-independent behaviour when the metallic reservoirs have a flat wide band.
We present the T-flow renormalization group method, which computes the memory kernel for the density-operator evolution of an open quantum system by lowering the physical temperature T of its environment. This has the key advantage that it can be formulated directly in real time, making it particularly suitable for transient dynamics, while automatically accumulating the full temperature dependence of transport quantities. We solve the T-flow equations numerically for the example of the single impurity Anderson model. We benchmark in the stationary limit, readily accessible in real-time for voltages on the order of the coupling or larger using results obtained by the functional renormalization group, density-matrix renormalization group and the quantum Monte Carlo method. Here we find quantitative agreement even in the worst case of strong interactions and low temperatures, indicating the reliability of the method. For transient charge currents we find good agreement with results obtained by the 2PI Green's function approach. Furthermore, we analytically show that the short-time dynamics of both local and non-local observables follow a "universal" temperature-independent behaviour when the metallic reservoirs have a flat wide band.
The numerical renormalization group (NRG) approach was developed to identify and quantify different equilibrium regimes of quantum impurity systems (QISs) with unprecedented accuracy by a tailored finite size representation. Out of equilibrium, the steady-state density operator is not of the Boltzmannian form but one that is determined by the imposed boundary conditions. We extend the NRG to the nonequilibrium setting by augmenting each Wilson site with a reservoir, whose coupling functions are calculated via a continuous fraction expansion in order to recover the continuum limit exactly. The nonequilibrium parameters such as a finite bias as well as a finite temperature gradient enters through the Bloch-Redfield tensor (BRT), whose zero eigenvector gives the steady-state density operator. We used the resulting open chain full density matrix (OC-FDM) approach with an effective single lead description to investigate the charge and spin transport through a quantum dot (QD) under finite bias and temperature gradient. The influence of lead asymmetry and an external magnetic field on the transport properties are also studied. For completeness, we have also investigated local properties of the QD, such as charge fluctuations and find excellent agreement with real-time quantum Monte Carlo (RT-QMC) data. The OC-FDM approach was able to explore Kondo energy scales as low as TK/D≈10−8 in the non-equilibrium regime, as well as show convergence with the established equilibrium benchmarks, such as a quantitative agreement with full density matrix numerical renormalization group (FDM-NRG) and Fermi-liquid scaling at small bias and temperature. Owing to the effective single lead description, a single OC-FDM data point takes orders of magnitude less time on a standard laptop, compared to other state-of-the-art numerical methods.
We present the real-time renormalization group (RTRG) method as a method to describe the stationary state current through generic multilevel quantum dots in nonequilibrium. The employed approach consists of a very rudimentary approximation for the renormalization group (RG) equations which neglects all vertex corrections while it provides a means to compute the effective dot Liouvillian self-consistently. Being based on a weak-coupling expansion in the tunneling between dot and reservoirs, the RTRG approach turns out to reliably describe charge fluctuations in and out of equilibrium for arbitrary coupling strength, even at zero temperature. We confirm this in the linear response regime with a benchmark against highly accurate numerical renormalization group data in the exemplary case of three-level quantum dots. For small to intermediate bias voltages and weak Coulomb interactions, we find an excellent agreement between RTRG and functional renormalization group data, which can be expected to be accurate in this regime. As a consequence, we advertise the presented RTRG approach as an efficient and versatile tool to describe charge fluctuations in quantum dot systems.
We apply the recently developed real-time renormalization-group (RTRG) method to different quantum dissipative systems. In contrast to other renormalization-group techniques the RTRG approach is formulated on the Keldysh contour and therefore allows for the description of nonequilibrium situations. The method is based on an exact kinetic equation which determines the time-dependent reduced density matrix. The kinetic equation involves an integral kernel which describes the phenomenon of dissipation. We calculate this quantity using the RTRG method: After applying Wick's theorem the arising diagrams are accounted for successively with respect to their time scale. During that process the theory is left invariant by renormalizing the operators describing the theory. As a starting point we discuss the polaron problem. We calculate the renormalized ground-state energy and the effective mass. We compare our results of the RTRG with those obtained from the flow equation formalism, which is based on infinitesimal transformations. In the central part of this thesis we consider the spin-boson model which is applicable to various physical and chemical systems. It models a particle in a double-well potential which is coupled to a bosonic environment. We determine static properties such as the static susceptibility. We also present results for the time evolution of the reduced density matrix starting from an arbitrary nonequilibrium state. The asymptotic behaviour of the reduced density matrix can be characterized by an oscillation frequency and two decay constants, all of which are determined. Finally, we calculate equilibrium correlation functions. We find consistency of our results with quantum Monte Carlo simulations and with the Shiba-relation. Additionally, our results show the correct scaling behaviour. Comparisons are also drawn to results of the noninteracting blip approximation and to results obtained for the anisotropic Kondo model. Our approach is very accurate for not too large couplings to the environment. Furthermore, the stationary tunnel current through a double quantum dot coupled to a phonon bath is calculated and compared to experimental data. Eventually, the running couplings of the two-lead Kondo model are discussed.
The numerical renormalization group (NRG) is tailored to describe interacting impurity models in equilibrium, but it faces limitations for steady-state nonequilibrium, arising, e.g., due to an applied bias voltage. We show that these limitations can be overcome by describing the thermal leads using a thermofield approach, integrating out high energy modes using NRG, and then treating the nonequilibrium dynamics at low energies using a quench protocol, implemented using the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group. This yields quantitatively reliable results for the current (with errors ≲3%) down to the exponentially small energy scales characteristic of impurity models. We present results of benchmark quality for the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the zero-bias conductance peak for the single-impurity Anderson model.
An essential role for the description of correlated quantum many-particle systems is played by impurity problems. These consist of a small number of localized orbitals, where the electrons are subject to a Coulomb-interaction, coupled to noninteracting bath degrees of freedom. Impurity models are used for the description of magnetic impurities in metals, of quantum points in nanostructures, and in the context of the dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). For their solution a large number of numerical methods exists. We mention here quantum Monte Carlo methods, the numerical renormalization group, or the exact diagonalization method. In this thesis we introduce a new approach to impurity problems, which is based on the functional renormalization group (fRG). In contrast to the methods mentioned above this approach is approximative, but it can be applied with comparatively lower numerical effort. The aim of this thesis is to examine the advantages and limits of this method. An important role in this connection is played by the single impurity Anderson model (SIAM), which is already understood very well with other methods and is seen as a prototype for models with strong local correlations. The spin fluctuations of this model are governed by the so-called Kondo energy scale and a central question of this thesis is whether this scale can be reproduced with our approach. We begin with a short introduction to the Green's function formalism for correlated quantum many particle systems. Then the fRG flow equations for the one-particle irreducible vertex functions are deduced, and several approximation schemes are discussed. In chapter 4 we introduce the fRG scheme used in this thesis. At first the SIAM is mapped to a semi-infinite chain, in which the interacting orbital is given by the first site of this chain. The system is then subdivided into two parts. The first part, which is called 'core', consists of the interacting orbital and the first L bath sites. The remaining bath sites form the second part. At the beginning both parts are decoupled from each other such that the core can be solved exactly. Starting with this exact solution the coupling between the core and the remaining bath sites is switched on slowly in a renormalization group flow. This way it is possible to calculate the one-particle and two-particle correlation functions on the correlated site. We call this flow scheme 'hybridization flow'. The flow equations are formulated in an effective theory on the first bath site outside the core, which turns out to be advantageous compared to other implementations of the hybridization flow. In chapter 5 this hybridization flow method is applied to the SIAM with semi-elliptic bath density of states. We discuss the differences which arise for different core-sizes (L = 0,1,2,3) and for different truncations of the fRG flow equations. In the cases L=0 and L=2 the local Fermi liquid properties of the SIAM and the associated Kondo scale can not be reproduced in both approximation schemes. For the core sizes L=1 and L=3 the ground state of the core is already a spin singlet state in the beginning of the flow and the Fermi liquid properties are reproduced. The Kondo energy scale, which determines the width of the central quasi-particle peak and the size of the local spin-susceptibility, is however not accurately resolved. This is partly due to the finite temperature used in our implementation such that for larger interaction strength the temperature is above the Kondo energy scale. The application of the hybridization flow method to quantum impurity problems in the context of the DMFT is discussed in chapter 6. In this approach lattice models with a local interaction, like the Hubbard model, are mapped to an effective impurity problem for a single lattice site embedded in a dynamical mean field representing the influence of the other electrons. This scheme is exact in infinitely many dimensions and a nonperturbative approximation method for finite-dimensional systems. In particular the Mott metal-insulator transition in the Hubbard model is successfully described by this method. One class of quantities, which is easily accessible from the hybridization flow scheme, is given by the local two-particle correlation functions. These play an essential role in non-local extensions of the DMFT. Therefore we mainly focus on these quantities. At first we apply our flow scheme to the Hubbard model on the Bethe lattice in infinite dimensions and calculate the local one-particle irreducible vertex functions in the insulating and the metallic phase in good agreement with previous calculations, which use the exact diagonalization method as impurity solver. After this we extend our flow scheme to a cluster DMFT method, which includes short-range antiferromagnetic correlations and calculate again the local and non-local vertex functions for the two-dimensional Hubbard model. We compare these to the results of the single-site DMFT.
This thesis is concerned with open quantum systems, and more specifically, quantum impurity models. By this we mean a small local quantum system in contact with a macroscopic non-interacting environment. This can be used to model individual impurities in metals and quantum information systems where the influence from the surrounding environment is not negligible. The numerical renormalization group (NRG) is the traditional method to study quantum impurity models. However its application is limited when dealing with real-time dynamics and bosonic systems. In recent years some of NRG's techniques have been introduced to the density matrix renormalization group method (DMRG), which itself is the most powerful numerical method to study one-dimensional quantum systems. The resulting method shows great potential, and this thesis explores and extends the power of the NRG+DMRG combination in treating open quantum systems. We focus mainly on two types of problem. The first is an open quantum system with a time-dependent Hamiltonian, which for example could be the theoretical description of various problems encountered in qubit manipulation. We combine NRG discretization and adaptive time-dependent DMRG (t-DMRG) to study the dissipative Landau-Zener problem. We also use this method to study the quantum decoherence process and the dynamical properties of the telegraph noise model. The results show that the NRG and t-DMRG combination is a fast, accurate and versatile method for such problems. The second type of problem we study involves the quantum critical properties of one- and two-bath spin-boson models. Unlike fermion and spin models, models with bosons are difficult to treat numerically as each boson basis has an infinite number of dimensions. By introducing the optimal boson basis into the variational matrix product state method (VMPS), which is a variant of DMRG, we can deal with an effective local boson basis as large as 1010. This is the crucial improvement over NRG which can only deal with at most a few dozen local basis states. With this powerful tool we have settled a controversy about the nature of the quantum phase transition in a sub-Ohmic spin-boson model regarding quantum to classical mapping. There, NRG fails to yield the right result due to the highly truncated local boson basis. We also explore the phase diagram of the two-bath spin-boson model and find a new critical phase. We demonstrate that NRG+VMPS with optimal boson basis represents a powerful setting to study quantum impurity models with a bosonic environment.