Many-body perturbation theories (MBPT) (both single and multireference), by design, are capable of representing electron correlation very well. However, the practical implementation of these methods for many-electron systems beyond a certain order is extremely difficult, if not impossible. For instance, there are hardly any calculations beyond third order at the multireference and fifth order at the single reference of perturbation theories. Thus, these methods are typically limited to systems where the higher-order electron correlation effect is not significant. A practical solution to this problem is the coupled cluster theory, which was first introduced by Coester [20] and Coester and Kümmel [21] in nuclear physics and was later adopted in the electron structure theory by Čížek [23, 106] and Paldus and Čížek [107]. The coupled-cluster (CC) theory is a non-perturbative all-order theory. This stateof-the-art theory has now been recognized as the basis of modern quantitative quantum chemistry and atomic physics for high-precision calculations. Its superior accuracy is rooted in the exponential ansatz for the wave function, which provides an energy expression that scales correctly with the number of electrons and under certain provisions leads to a faster convergence of the many-body expansion.
The method of correlated basis functions provides a means of systematically exploiting our intuitive understanding of real physical systems. Here we seek especially to develop a formalism for describing systems of strongly interacting fermions, for example, nuclei and liquid
He3, using a complete set of correlated functions ${\ensuremath{\Psi}}_{\mathrm{m}}=\frac{F{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}{{({\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}, {F}^{2}{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}})}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$.
F is taken as a product of two-body factors, $\ensuremath{\Pi}{i<j}^{}[f({r}_{\mathrm{ij}})]$, the
f(rij) embodying at least the correlations arising from strong short-range repulsions; and ${{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$, a set of independent-particle-model functions which might serve as a basis in the absence of highly singular interactions. The matrix elements
Hmn,
Nmn of the Hamiltonian and identity operators with respect to the correlated basis ${{\ensuremath{\Psi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ are evaluated by generalization of cluster-expansion techniques developed originally for the calculation of the partition function of a classical imperfect gas and adapted to the quantum-mechanical many-body problem by Iwamoto and Yamada. Contributions to our expansions for the
Hmn are classified according to order of magnitude in the quantity $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$, where $\ensuremath{\omega}=\ensuremath{\int}({f}^{2}(r)\ensuremath{-}1)d\mathrm{r}$ is a "correlation parameter" and $\ensuremath{\rho}$ the average particle density. To the extent that $|\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}|$ is small, it provides a true expansion parameter. A detailed technical discussion of the cluster expansions is given, with special emphasis on their symmetry properties upon truncation. Although the many-body problem is soluble by simultaneous diagonalization of the matrices (
Hmn) and (
Nmn), it is preferable first to transform to an orthonormal basis of "unperturbed" correlated functions ${{\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ with respect to which the Hamiltonian and identity operators have the matrix representations (
Hmn) and $({N}_{\mathrm{mn}})=({\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\mathrm{mn}})$, and then to attempt the separate diagonalization of (
Hmn). In general, such a transformation is expedited by the L\"owdin procedure carried out to the desired order in $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$. However, a Schmidt orthogonalization scheme might prove more advantageous in specific cases. Field-theoretic techniques (of both perturbative and nonperturbative nature) may be brought to bear in the diagonalization of (
Hmn). The inverse of the unitary transformation which takes the basis ${{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ into the basis ${{\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$, applied to the given singular Hamiltonian, leads---for any
F in the class considered---to a non-singular "effective Hamiltonian." Following this formal cue, we set out to construct explicitly a second-quantized effective Hamiltonian which generates the same matrix elements, to prescribed order in $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$, when operating between independent-particle kets of the model occupation-number representation, as does the given Hamiltonian in the configuration-space representation, between the corresponding correlated functions of the L\"owdin basis. The quasiparticles described by this effective Hamiltonian interact via well-behaved two-body, three-body, \ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{},
Q-body, \ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{} potentials, in contrast to the highly singular two-body interactions of the real particles. For small $|\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}|$, the effective two-body forces predominate. An avenue to deeper understanding of the applicability of the nuclear-shell model and the dressed-quasiparticle theory of liquid
He3 has been opened. This article treats only the formalism for a uniform extended medium. Numerical calculations, as well as the extension of the method to finite systems, will follow.
We give a brief outline of the perturbative expansion and the cluster properties of nondiagonal matrix elements in correlated-basis theory. A structural study of the perturbative series shows the presence of systematic cancellations among the terms of the series. It is proved by virtue of these cancellations that the expansion is linked and closely resembles the perturbative expansion of Brueckner-Goldstone theory. It is found that the ladder diagrams can be summed up by solving a Bethe-Goldstone---type equation which has recently been derived in correlated coupled-cluster theory. A brief discussion of some properties of ring diagrams is also given.
We study many-body correlations in the ground state of a general quantum system of bosons or fermions by including an additional Jastrow function in our recently proposed variational coupled-cluster method. Our approach combines the advantages of state-dependent correlations in the coupled-cluster theory and of the strong, short-ranged correlations of the Jastrow function. We apply a generalized linked-cluster expansion for the Jastrow wave function and provide a detailed analysis for practical evaluation of the Hamiltonian expectation value as an energy functional of the Jastrow function and the bare density-distribution functions introduced and calculated in our earlier publications; a simple, first-order energy functional is derived and detailed formulas for the higher-order contributions are provided. Our energy functional does not suffer the divergence as most coupled-cluster calculations often do when applying to Hamiltonians with hardcore potentials. We also discuss possible applications of our technique, including applications to strongly correlated fermion systems.
Quantum many-body theory as a discipline in its own right dates largely from the 1950's. It has developed since then to its current position as one of the cornerstones of modern theoretical physics. The field remains vibrant and active, vigorous and exciting. Its most powerful techniques are truly universal. They are constantly expanding to find new fields of application, while advances continue to be made in the more traditional areas. To commemorate the impending 80th birthdays of its two co-inventors, Firtz Coester and Hermann Kümmel, one such technique, namely the coupled cluster method, was especially highlighted at this meeting, the eleventh in the series of International Conferences on Recent Progress in Many-Body Theories. The history of the coupled cluster method as told here mirrors in many ways both the development of the entire discipline of microscopic quantum many-body theory and the history of the series of conferences. The series itself is universally recognised as being the premier series of meetings in this subject area. Its proceedings have always summarised the current state of the art through the lectures of its leading practitioners. The present volume is no exception. No serious researcher in quantum many-body theory or in any field which uses it can afford to be without this volume.
In this book, we encounter the hierarchy problem when we apply the equation-of-motion technique to analyze the quantum dynamics of the coupled light–matter system. To obtain systematic approximations, we use the so-called cluster-expansion method where many-body quantities are systematically grouped into cluster classes based on how important they are to the overall quantum dynamics. With increasing complexity, the clusters contain independent single particles (singlets), interacting pairs (doublets), three-particle terms (triplets), coupled four-particle contributions (quadruplets), as well as higher-order correlations. In this context, the N -particle concept is somewhat formal because it refers to generic N -particle expectation values 〈 N 〉, which may consist of an arbitrary mixture of carrier, photon, and phonon operators, as discussed in Section 14.2. In order to truncate the hierarchy problem at a given level, 〈 N 〉 is approximated through a functional structure that includes all clusters up to the predetermined level while all remaining clusters with a higher rank are omitted. It is natural that the corresponding approximations can be systematically improved by increasing the number of clusters included. To the best of our knowledge, the idea of coupled-clusters approaches was first formulated by Fritz Coester and Hermann Kümmel in the 1950s to describe nuclear many-body phenomena. The approach was then modified for the needs of quantum chemistry by Jiri Cizek 1966 to deal with many-body phenomena in atoms and molecules. Currently, it is one of the most accurate methods to compute molecular eigenstates.