We present a new technique for evaluating the gradient expansion of the one-particle Green's function of a system of noninteracting particles. The method is based on the fundamental differential equation for the Green's function and is applicable to relativistic systems as well as to nonrelativistic ones. Explicitly we derive the gradient expansion of the relativistic Green's function of a system of electrons in an arbitrary time-independent external four potential to second order.
We present a new technique for evaluating the gradient expansion of the one-particle Green's function of a system of noninteracting particles. The method is based on the fundamental differential equation for the Green's function and is applicable to relativistic systems as well as to nonrelativistic ones. Explicitly we derive the gradient expansion of the relativistic Green's function of a system of electrons in an arbitrary time-independent external four potential to second order.
This is the first of a series of papers dealing with many-particle systems from a unified, nonperturbative point of view. It contains derivations and discussions of various field-theoretical techniques which will be applied in subsequent papers. In a short introduction the general method of approach is summarized, and its relationship to other field-theoretic problems indicated. In the second section the macroscopic properties of the spectra of many-particle systems are described. Asymptotic evaluations are performed which characterize these macroscopic features in terms of intensive parameters, and the relationship of these parameters to thermodynamics is discussed. The special characteristics of the ground state are shown to follow as a limiting case of the asymptotic evaluations. The third section is devoted to the time-dependent field correlation functions, or Green's functions, which describe the microscopic behavior of a multiparticle system. These functions are defined, and related to intensive macroscopic variables when the energy and number of particles are large. Spectral representations and other properties of various one-particle Green's functions are derived. In the fourth section the treatment of non-equilibrium processes is considered. As a particular example, the electromagnetic properties of a system are expressed in terms of the special two-particle Green's function which describes current correlation. The discussion yields specifically a fluctuation-dissipation theorem, a sum rule for conductivity, and certain dispersion relations. The fifth section deals with the differential equations which determine the Green's functions. The boundary conditions that characterize the Green's function equations are exhibited without reference to adiabatic decoupling. A method for solving the equations approximately, by treating the correlations among successively larger numbers of particles, is considered. The first approximation in this sequence is shown to yield a generalized Hartree-like equation. A related, but rigorous, identity for the single-particle Green's function is then derived. A second approximation, which takes certain two-particle correlations into account, is shown to produce various additional effects: The interaction between particles is altered in a manner characterized by the intensive macroscopic parameters, and the modification and spread of the energy-momentum relation come into play. In the final section compact formal expressions for the Green's functions and other physical quantities are derived. Alternative equations and systematic approximations for the Green's functions are obtained.
Several widely used methods for the calculation of band structures and photo emission spectra, such as the GW approximation, rely on many-body perturbation theory. They can be obtained by iterating a set of functional differential equations (DEs) relating the one-particle Green's function (GF) to its functional derivative with respect to an external perturbing potential. In this work, we apply a linear response expansion in order to obtain insights into various approximations for GF calculations. The expansion leads to an effective screening while keeping the effects of the interaction to all orders. In order to study various aspects of the resulting equations, we discretize them and retain only one point in space, spin and time for all variables. Within this one-point model we obtain an explicit solution for the GF, which allows us to explore the structure of the general family of solutions and to determine the specific solution that corresponds to the physical one. Moreover, we analyze the performances of established approaches like GW over the whole range of interaction strength, and we explore alternative approximations. Finally, we link certain approximations for the exact solution to the corresponding manipulations of the DE which produces them. This link is crucial in view of a generalization of our findings to the real (multidimensional functional) case where only the DE is known.
The Green’s function method is among the most powerful and versatile formalisms in physics, and its nonequilibrium version has proved invaluable in many research fields. With entirely new chapters and updated example problems, the second edition of this popular text continues to provide an ideal introduction to nonequilibrium many-body quantum systems and ultrafast phenomena in modern science. Retaining the unique and self-contained style of the original, this new edition has been thoroughly revised to address interacting systems of fermions and bosons, simplified many-body approaches like the GKBA, the Bloch equations, and the Boltzmann equations, and the connection between Green’s functions and newly developed time-resolved spectroscopy techniques. Small gaps in the theory have been filled, and frequently overlooked subtleties have been systematically highlighted and clarified. With an abundance of illustrative examples, insightful discussions, and modern applications, this book remains the definitive guide for students and researchers alike.
Introduction Mathematically, given a linear differential operator L x , one encounters the solution to the inhomogeneous differential equation Here ρ ( x ) is a given source function. For a given boundary condition, we assume a solution to exist. The solution can be reduced to a simpler problem. Let G ( x, y ) is the Green's function. This is a function of x with y a parameter. Take G ( x, y ) to satisfy the same boundary conditions as φ ( x ). Then since An example of L x is, of course, the Schrödinger operator We take ρ ( x ) = V ( x ) ψ ( x , t ), ψ ( x , t ) being the wave function and V ( x ) the potential operator. We are interested in Green's functions taken over from the techniques of quantum field theory (Schweber, 1961; Lifshitz and Petaevskii, 1981). We will concern ourselves particularly with one- and two-time Green's functions, since our principal interest is to show a connection to the calculations of linear response theory (Chapter 15) as well as to quantum kinetic equations. Then we wish to compare the methods with those described in Chapter 4. In this we will follow the work of L. P. Kadanoff and G. Baym (1962) and of L. V. Keldysh (1965) and also Zubarev (1974). We will not discuss equilibrium statistical mechanics utilizing Green's function techniques for many-body problems. The literature is exhaustive (see Abrikosov et al. , 1963; Fetter and Walecka, 1971). A good general introduction is the book by G. D. Mahan (2000). One- and two-time quantum Green's functions and their properties Let us introduce the creation operator ψ † ( r, t ) and annihilation operator ψ ( r, t ) of the second quantization formalism (see Schweber, 1961). They have the equal time commutation rules for Bose and Fermi particles: The Hamiltonian operator for the particles is and the number density of particles at r t is the operator Note that r = ( r 1 … r N ) for (1, 2, 3, …, N ) and V (| r − r ′|) is the pair potential depending, as in Chapter 4, on the scalar distance between the particles.
A purely algebraic approach to Green's functions is presented. The new formulation allows the determination of a closed-form equation for Green's functions which depends only on the ground state of the system. By a straightforward perturbation expansion of this state an interesting approximation scheme is obtained which is nonperturbative in the final states (e.g., excited or ionic states). This method, which can be used for various propagators, is explicitly applied to the particle-particle propagator carrying out the scheme up to third order. The approach is discussed in detail and briefly compared with the well-established algebraic diagrammatic construction approximation scheme.