Abstract Green-function techniques are among the most versatile tools for investigating quantum many-body systems at finite temperature. Yet, standard textbook treatments often fragment the formalism—separating bosons and fermions, systems with massless and massive particles, or restricting proofs to special Hamiltonians—thereby obscuring the structural unity of the theory. This work develops a general, Hamiltonian-independent framework for both real- and imaginary-time Green-functions, valid for any combination of bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom, including mixed systems such as interacting electron–phonon models. The key conceptual advance is the nature index η , which complements the conventional statistical sign ζ . While ζ encodes particle statistics, η distinguishes canonical quantization of systems with massless particles ( η = 0) from second quantization of systems with massive particles ( η = 1). This classification removes ambiguities in chemical-potential terms and unifies the treatment of photons, phonons, electrons, and their mixtures under a single notation. From this basis, we formulate generalized ensemble constructions, generalized Lehmann-representations, and a fluctuation-dissipation theorem valid for arbitrary Hamiltonians. Several results—such as the monotonicity of particle number in the chemical potential, an explicit formula for the quadratic contribution to the internal energy from the retarded Green-function, and the Hartree-contribution to the self-energy in electron–phonon systems—are either absent from, or only sparsely mentioned in, existing literature. We further introduce Green’s Chart, a visual and algebraic map that systematically connects all Green-function types through analytic continuation, Fourier-transforms, and Wick-rotations, enabling all to be generated from the Matsubara Green-function. Applications to both non-interacting and interacting models demonstrate the framework’s ability to compute densities of states, thermodynamic potentials, and spectral functions with a consistent formalism. The results provide a complete and reproducible toolkit for equilibrium many-body theory, consolidating scattered results into a unified structure suitable for both pedagogical and computational purposes.
A methodology is introduced for the systematic treatment of electron-electron correlations in solids and other interacting quantum
N-particle systems. The method is developed within the framework of electronic structure theory (band theory) but, in contrast to conventional approaches, which are based on the single-particle picture, it is formulated within a many-particle picture in which
n particles in
d-dimensional phase space are treated as a single particle in a phase space of
nd dimensions. In this phase space, interparticle interactions appear as external potentials allowing the treatment of the system of particles through the use of single-particle methods, while at the same time allowing a systematic, direct, and nonperturbative treatment of interparticle interactions. The method makes use of the invariance of the Hamiltonian describing an interacting-particle system under partitioning into subsystems of
n particles. This treatment leads to exact results in the limit $n\ensuremath{\rightarrow}N$. Based on such partitioning, we propose a generalization of density functional theory and an appropriately defined local density approximation to treat the interactions between the
n-particle units in a system of
N> n particles. This approach yields
n-particle correlated densities and
n-particle states which can be used in an analysis of the electronic properties of materials, such as total energy, phase stability, electronic transport, and others. We use the formal construct of multiple-scattering theory to develop the method for the calculation of the two-particle electronic structure of a solid and the corresponding total energy of the ground state. We also illustrate some of the properties of the method in terms of a Hubbard model Hamiltonian on a linear ring. Various features of the method and further possible applications are presented in a discussion section.
Part I: Green's Functions in Mathematical Physics - Time-Independent Green's Functions / Time-dependent Green's Functions / Part II: One-Body Green's Functions - Physical Significance of One-Body Green's Functions / Green's Functions and Perturbation Theory / Green's Functions for Tight-Binding Hamiltonians / Single Impurity Scattering / Extension Theory for Lattice Green's Functions / Part III: Many-Body Green's Functions - Field Operators and Three Pictures / Definition and Properties of Many-Body Green's Functions / The Diagram Technique for Zero-Temperature Green's Functions / Definition and Properties of Matsubara Green's Functions / Diagram Technique for the Matsubara Green's Functions / Three Approximation Schemes of the Diagram Technique / Linear Response Theory / The Equation of Motion Technique for the Green's Functions / Magnetic Systems Described by Heisenberg Model / The Green's Functions for Boson Systems with Condensation / Superconductors with Weak Interaction Between Electrons / Nonequilibrium Green's Functions / Electronic Transport through a Mesoscopic Structure / Appendixes / Index.
We study the single particle scattering process in a coherent multi-site system consisting of a tight-binding ring threaded by an Aharonov-Bohm flux and several attaching leads. The asymmetric behavior of scattering matrix is discovered analytically in the framework of both Bethe Ansatz and Green's function formalism. It is found that, under certain conditions, a three-site electronic system can behave analogous to a perfect semiconductor diode where current flows only in one direction. The general result is also valid for a neutral particle system since the effective magnetic flux may be implemented by a globe rotation. This observation means that the three-site system can serve as an orientation measuring gyroscope due to the approximate linear dependence of the current difference of two output leads on the rotational angular velocity.