Density Functional Theory Approach to Shell Model Hamiltonians

Eugene S. Kryachko, Eduardo V. Ludeña

Zhengqian Cheng, Chris A. Marianetti

Here we propose an exact formalism, off-shell effective energy theory (OET), which provides a thermodynamic description of a generic quantum Hamiltonian. The OET is based on a partitioning of the Hamiltonian and a corresponding density matrix ansatz constructed from an off-shell extension of the equilibrium density matrix; and there are dual realizations based on a given partitioning. To approximate OET, we introduce the central point expansion (CPE), which is an expansion of the density matrix ansatz, and we renormalize the CPE using a standard expansion of the ground-state energy. We showcase the OET for the one-band Hubbard model in $d=1$, 2, and $\ensuremath{\infty}$, using a partitioning between kinetic and potential energy, yielding two realizations denoted as $\mathcal{K}$ and $\mathcal{X}$. OET shows favorable agreement with exact or state-of-the-art results over all parameter space, and has a negligible computational cost. Physically, $\mathcal{K}$ describes the Fermi liquid, while $\mathcal{X}$ gives an analogous description of both the Luttinger liquid and the Mott insulator. Our approach should find broad applicability in lattice model Hamiltonians, in addition to real materials systems.

Viraht Sahni

Carsten A. Ullrich

According to the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem of density-functional theory (DFT), all observable quantities of systems of interacting electrons can be expressed as functionals of the ground-state density. This includes, in principle, the spin polarization (magnetization) of open-shell systems; the explicit form of the magnetization as a functional of the total density is however unknown. In practice, open-shell systems are always treated with spin-DFT, where the basic variables are the spin densities. Here the relation between DFT and spin-DFT for open-shell systems is illustrated and the exact magnetization density functional is obtained for the half-filled Hubbard trimer. Errors arising from spin-restricted and -unrestricted exact-exchange Kohn-Sham calculations are analyzed and partially resolved via the exact magnetization functional.

I. A. Howard, N. H. March, Luis Miguel Nieto

In earlier work, expressions have been constructed for the single-particle kinetic-energy functional ${T}_{s}[\ensuremath{\rho}]$ for independent fermions subject to harmonic confinement in low dimensions, with $\ensuremath{\rho}$ the particle density. Here, the differential equation for $\ensuremath{\rho}$ is first obtained in d dimensions for an arbitrary number of closed shells. Then, by using the known Euler-Lagrange equation, the functional derivative $\ensuremath{\delta}{T}_{s}/\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\rho}(\mathbf{r})$ is constructed. ${T}_{s}[\ensuremath{\rho}]$ itself is proved to take the form of a linear combination of three pieces: (i) a von Weizs\"acker inhomogeneity kinetic energy, but with the original coefficient reduced by a dimensionality factor $1/d,$ (ii) a Thomas-Fermi kinetic energy, and (iii) a truly nonlocal contribution that, however, is shown to involve only the density $\ensuremath{\rho}$ itself and its first derivative. Thus, for this model, which is currently highly relevant to the interpretation of experiments on the evaporative cooling of dilute, and hence almost noninteracting, fermions, a complete density-functional theory now exists.

Ionel Stetcu