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

Physical Review

Theory of Many-Boson Systems: Pair Theory

Marvin D. Girardeau, R. Arnowitt

Published Feb 1, 1959• 325 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The many-boson system with repulsive interactions is treated by a variational method based on a variational trial state of an exponential pair-excitation type obtained by a generalization of that of Bogoliubov; the treatment is closely related to an intermediate-coupling approximation with respect to pairs. The nonlinear integral equation which determines the variational ground state is derived, and various properties of this ground state and the associated excited states are examined. The resultant low-lying spectrum lies below that of Bogoliubov by an amount proportional to the total number of particles. The variational principle is shown to produce rigorous energy eigenvalue differences for the pair part of the Hamiltonian. The variational states, however, still exhibit unphysical features characteristic of pair-excitation states: The pair correlation function does not go to zero at zero particle separation and the phonon spectrum exhibits a gap above the ground state. It is suggested that these features can be removed by using states which take into account excitation of momentum-conserving groups of more than two particles.

DOI
10.1103/physrev.113.755

Related papers

Exactly Solvable Many-Boson Model

R. W. Richardson

A many-boson model is formulated and expressions for its exact eigenstates and energies are obtained for both an arbitrary finite and an infinite number of bosons. The Hamiltonian of the model contains interactions between bosons whose momenta have equal magnitudes but opposite directions. The matrix elements of this interaction are taken to be a constant over a range of momenta surrounding k = 0. The ground state of the 2N-particle system is shown to be a product of N pair-creation operators acting on the vacuum state. Each of these pair-creation operators depends upon one of N parameters which are called pair energies. The N pair energies are shown to satisfy a coupled system of nonlinear algebraic equations. The energy of the state is the sum of the pair energies and the occupation probabilities of the single-particle levels are given as simple functions of the pair energies. Similar results are derived for the excited states of the system and for the states of an odd number of particles. These results are valid for both a repulsive and an attractive interaction, since they only depend upon the form of the interaction. The equations are solved algebraically for two model systems. The first of these is one whose single-particle kinetic energy takes on only one value. The equations for this system are solved for an arbitrary interaction strength and it is shown that the pair energies are proportional to the zeros of certain Laguerre polynomials. The second system is one in which the single-particle kinetic energy can take on two values. The equations for this system are solved in the strong repulsive-interaction limit and it is shown that the pair energies are proportional to the zeros of certain Jacobi polynomials. The excitation energies of this second system are shown to be proportional to 1/n and the occupations of the two single-particle levels in the ground state are shown to be proportional to n, where n is the total number of particles. For a repulsive interaction and an arbitrary single-particle spectrum, the algebraic equations for the pair energies are converted into an approximate integral equation for the density of roots which is accurate to order 1/n. This integral equation is solved for a strong interaction which, in the context of this model, means an interaction whose strength is greater than a constant times 1/V⅔ in the limit of a large volume. From this solution, the following results are obtained: (1) the lowest two single-particle levels have occupations of order n; (2) the excitation spectrum is that of a set of noninteracting quasiparticles; and (3) the quasiparticle spectrum has two zeros corresponding to the lowest two single-particle levels. Apart from the presence of two zeros, the quasiparticle spectrum does not differ significantly from that of the noninteracting particles.

Journal of Mathematical Physics•Sep 1, 1968•82 citations

Pair theory of the Hubbard Hamiltonian: variational approach

H. Barentzen, Christo I. Ivanov, Marvin D. Girardeau

A novel variational approach is outlined for treating electron correlation in many-particle systems and is applied to the one-band Hubbard model. The authors' treatment is based on the concept of fermion pairs and their representation in terms of ideal-boson operators. In this representation approximate eigen-states of the Hamiltonian are obtained in the form of an antisymmetrised product of pair orbitals. For the ground state of the Hubbard model these orbitals are then determined by the use of the variational principle. Because of the complexity of the resulting equation a simplified ansatz is used for the orbitals, which leads to the same energy expression as is obtained by the traditional Bogolubov method. The trial states used in both approaches are, however, quite different. They find reasonable qualitative agreement with well established results for the Hubbard model in one dimension even in those cases where the Bogolubov or related approaches fail. They are also able to show that in the atomic limit the Bogolubov energy bound is the best upper bound that can be obtained by using a single determinant of pair orbitals. Therefore, the only way to improve the ground-state energy in the atomic limit is by means of configuration interaction.

Journal of Physics C Solid State Physics•Oct 20, 1987•3 citations

Many-body excitations in trapped Bose gas: A non-Hermitian approach

Manoussos G. Grillakis, Dionisios Margetis, Stephen Sorokanich

We study a physically motivated model for a trapped dilute gas of Bosons with repulsive pairwise atomic interactions at zero temperature. Our goal is to describe aspects of the excited many-body quantum states of this system by accounting for the scattering of atoms in pairs from the macroscopic state. We start with an approximate many-body Hamiltonian, H a p p \mathcal {H}_{\mathrm {app}} , in the Bosonic Fock space. This H a p p \mathcal {H}_{\mathrm {app}} conserves the total number of atoms. Inspired by Wu [J. Math. Phys. 2 (1961), 105–123], we apply a non-unitary transformation to H a p p \mathcal {H}_{\mathrm {app}} . Key in this procedure is the pair-excitation kernel, which obeys a nonlinear integro-partial differential equation. In the stationary case, we develop an existence theory for solutions to this equation by a variational principle. We connect this theory to a system of partial differential equations for one-particle excitation (“quasiparticle”-) wave functions derived by Fetter [Ann. Phys. 70 (1972), 67–101], and prove existence of solutions for this system. These wave functions solve an eigenvalue problem for a J J -self-adjoint operator. From the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, we derive a one-particle nonlocal equation for low-lying excitations, describe its solutions, and recover Fetter’s energy spectrum. We also analytically provide an explicit construction of the excited eigenstates of the reduced Hamiltonian in the N N -particle sector of Fock space.

Quarterly of Applied Mathematics•Sep 26, 2022•1 citation

Cluster Integrals and the Ground State of Bosons with Repulsive Interactions

H. A. Gersch, V. H. Smith

The properties of a Bose system of particles with repulsive interactions have previously been treated using perturbation theory in the formalism of second quantization. Others have also considered this problem by dealing with the wave function in configuration space, using the theory of cluster expansions. In these latter papers, variation with respect to a parameter in a trial function for the ground state has been shown to yield a ground-state energy close to the exact asymptotic expressions obtained from perturbation theory. The connection between the two methods is not immediately obvious from these cluster expansion treatments. It is shown here that, as one might expect, the cluster integral method can be handled so that it is completely equivalent to the pair approximation in perturbation theory.

Physical Review•Aug 1, 1960•6 citations

Bogoliubov theory for a many-boson system

Gary S. Grest, A. K. Rajagopal

Presently there are two distinct classes of microscopic theories which describe a system of many identical spinless bosons. One is the Bogoliubov theory, which places special emphasis on the occupation of the zero-momentum state and as such depends explicitly on the number of particles in this state, ${N}_{0}$. The other depends on density fluctuations to describe the fluid. In this work, we derive a modified version of the Bogoliubov theory which results in a number-conserving Hamiltonian with no explicit dependence on ${N}_{0}$. The ground- and first-excited-state energies evaluated through second order in $\frac{1}{{N}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$ are equivalent to the results of a variational-perturbative procedure based on the method of correlated basis functions in the uniform limit.

Physical review. B, Solid state•Dec 1, 1975•2 citations

Ground-State Energy of a Many-Particle Boson System

Deok Kyo Lee

The ground state of a many-particle boson system is studied for two closely related limits: the uniform limit and the weak coupling limit. The former is defined by $\ensuremath{\alpha}=1\ensuremath{-}g(0)\ensuremath{\ll}1$ and the latter by $\ensuremath{\beta}=\frac{(N\ensuremath{-}{N}_{0})}{N}\ensuremath{\ll}1$, where $g(r)$ is the radial distribution function and ${N}_{0}$ is the mean occupation number of the zero-momentum state. In the uniform limit the variation-perturbation approach based on (a) the method of correlated basis functions and (b) the series expansion in powers of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ is found to be equivalent to the field-theoretic treatment given by Brueckner (for the charged-boson gas) in the weak coupling limit. In particular, it is shown that the variation-perturbation energy obtained for the uniform limit in the momentum representation is identical through second order to the ground-state energy evaluated for $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\ll}1$ by summing one- and two-ring diagrams in the Bogoliubov occupation-number representation. The charged-boson gas and the one-dimensional boson system with a $\ensuremath{\delta}$-function interaction are considered to examine some of the interesting features of the uniform-limit procedure.

Physical Review A•Oct 1, 1971•29 citations
The many-boson system with repulsive interactions is treated by a variational method based on a variational trial state of an exponential pair-excitation type obtained by a generalization of that of Bogoliubov; the treatment is closely related to an intermediate-coupling approximation with respect to pairs. The nonlinear integral equation which determines the variational ground state is derived, and various properties of this ground state and the associated excited states are examined. The resultant low-lying spectrum lies below that of Bogoliubov by an amount proportional to the total number of particles. The variational principle is shown to produce rigorous energy eigenvalue differences for the pair part of the Hamiltonian. The variational states, however, still exhibit unphysical features characteristic of pair-excitation states: The pair correlation function does not go to zero at zero particle separation and the phonon spectrum exhibits a gap above the ground state. It is suggested that these features can be removed by using states which take into account excitation of momentum-conserving groups of more than two particles.
A many-boson model is formulated and expressions for its exact eigenstates and energies are obtained for both an arbitrary finite and an infinite number of bosons. The Hamiltonian of the model contains interactions between bosons whose momenta have equal magnitudes but opposite directions. The matrix elements of this interaction are taken to be a constant over a range of momenta surrounding k = 0. The ground state of the 2N-particle system is shown to be a product of N pair-creation operators acting on the vacuum state. Each of these pair-creation operators depends upon one of N parameters which are called pair energies. The N pair energies are shown to satisfy a coupled system of nonlinear algebraic equations. The energy of the state is the sum of the pair energies and the occupation probabilities of the single-particle levels are given as simple functions of the pair energies. Similar results are derived for the excited states of the system and for the states of an odd number of particles. These results are valid for both a repulsive and an attractive interaction, since they only depend upon the form of the interaction. The equations are solved algebraically for two model systems. The first of these is one whose single-particle kinetic energy takes on only one value. The equations for this system are solved for an arbitrary interaction strength and it is shown that the pair energies are proportional to the zeros of certain Laguerre polynomials. The second system is one in which the single-particle kinetic energy can take on two values. The equations for this system are solved in the strong repulsive-interaction limit and it is shown that the pair energies are proportional to the zeros of certain Jacobi polynomials. The excitation energies of this second system are shown to be proportional to 1/n and the occupations of the two single-particle levels in the ground state are shown to be proportional to n, where n is the total number of particles. For a repulsive interaction and an arbitrary single-particle spectrum, the algebraic equations for the pair energies are converted into an approximate integral equation for the density of roots which is accurate to order 1/n. This integral equation is solved for a strong interaction which, in the context of this model, means an interaction whose strength is greater than a constant times 1/V⅔ in the limit of a large volume. From this solution, the following results are obtained: (1) the lowest two single-particle levels have occupations of order n; (2) the excitation spectrum is that of a set of noninteracting quasiparticles; and (3) the quasiparticle spectrum has two zeros corresponding to the lowest two single-particle levels. Apart from the presence of two zeros, the quasiparticle spectrum does not differ significantly from that of the noninteracting particles.
A novel variational approach is outlined for treating electron correlation in many-particle systems and is applied to the one-band Hubbard model. The authors' treatment is based on the concept of fermion pairs and their representation in terms of ideal-boson operators. In this representation approximate eigen-states of the Hamiltonian are obtained in the form of an antisymmetrised product of pair orbitals. For the ground state of the Hubbard model these orbitals are then determined by the use of the variational principle. Because of the complexity of the resulting equation a simplified ansatz is used for the orbitals, which leads to the same energy expression as is obtained by the traditional Bogolubov method. The trial states used in both approaches are, however, quite different. They find reasonable qualitative agreement with well established results for the Hubbard model in one dimension even in those cases where the Bogolubov or related approaches fail. They are also able to show that in the atomic limit the Bogolubov energy bound is the best upper bound that can be obtained by using a single determinant of pair orbitals. Therefore, the only way to improve the ground-state energy in the atomic limit is by means of configuration interaction.
We study a physically motivated model for a trapped dilute gas of Bosons with repulsive pairwise atomic interactions at zero temperature. Our goal is to describe aspects of the excited many-body quantum states of this system by accounting for the scattering of atoms in pairs from the macroscopic state. We start with an approximate many-body Hamiltonian, H a p p \mathcal {H}_{\mathrm {app}} , in the Bosonic Fock space. This H a p p \mathcal {H}_{\mathrm {app}} conserves the total number of atoms. Inspired by Wu [J. Math. Phys. 2 (1961), 105–123], we apply a non-unitary transformation to H a p p \mathcal {H}_{\mathrm {app}} . Key in this procedure is the pair-excitation kernel, which obeys a nonlinear integro-partial differential equation. In the stationary case, we develop an existence theory for solutions to this equation by a variational principle. We connect this theory to a system of partial differential equations for one-particle excitation (“quasiparticle”-) wave functions derived by Fetter [Ann. Phys. 70 (1972), 67–101], and prove existence of solutions for this system. These wave functions solve an eigenvalue problem for a J J -self-adjoint operator. From the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, we derive a one-particle nonlocal equation for low-lying excitations, describe its solutions, and recover Fetter’s energy spectrum. We also analytically provide an explicit construction of the excited eigenstates of the reduced Hamiltonian in the N N -particle sector of Fock space.
The properties of a Bose system of particles with repulsive interactions have previously been treated using perturbation theory in the formalism of second quantization. Others have also considered this problem by dealing with the wave function in configuration space, using the theory of cluster expansions. In these latter papers, variation with respect to a parameter in a trial function for the ground state has been shown to yield a ground-state energy close to the exact asymptotic expressions obtained from perturbation theory. The connection between the two methods is not immediately obvious from these cluster expansion treatments. It is shown here that, as one might expect, the cluster integral method can be handled so that it is completely equivalent to the pair approximation in perturbation theory.
Presently there are two distinct classes of microscopic theories which describe a system of many identical spinless bosons. One is the Bogoliubov theory, which places special emphasis on the occupation of the zero-momentum state and as such depends explicitly on the number of particles in this state, N0{N}_{0}N0​. The other depends on density fluctuations to describe the fluid. In this work, we derive a modified version of the Bogoliubov theory which results in a number-conserving Hamiltonian with no explicit dependence on N0{N}_{0}N0​. The ground- and first-excited-state energies evaluated through second order in 1N12\frac{1}{{N}^{\frac{1}{2}}}N21​1​ are equivalent to the results of a variational-perturbative procedure based on the method of correlated basis functions in the uniform limit.
The ground state of a many-particle boson system is studied for two closely related limits: the uniform limit and the weak coupling limit. The former is defined by $\ensuremath{\alpha}=1\ensuremath{-}g(0)\ensuremath{\ll}1$ and the latter by $\ensuremath{\beta}=\frac{(N\ensuremath{-}{N}_{0})}{N}\ensuremath{\ll}1$, where g(r)g(r)g(r) is the radial distribution function and N0{N}_{0}N0​ is the mean occupation number of the zero-momentum state. In the uniform limit the variation-perturbation approach based on (a) the method of correlated basis functions and (b) the series expansion in powers of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ is found to be equivalent to the field-theoretic treatment given by Brueckner (for the charged-boson gas) in the weak coupling limit. In particular, it is shown that the variation-perturbation energy obtained for the uniform limit in the momentum representation is identical through second order to the ground-state energy evaluated for $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\ll}1$ by summing one- and two-ring diagrams in the Bogoliubov occupation-number representation. The charged-boson gas and the one-dimensional boson system with a $\ensuremath{\delta}$-function interaction are considered to examine some of the interesting features of the uniform-limit procedure.