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.
A method for the accurate evaluation of the diagonal and off-diagonal matrix elements of the Hamiltonian operator within the correlated basis function scheme is presented. Considering a basis consisting of Slater determinants, correlated with a Jastrow correlation factor, the expectation value of the kinetic energy operator has been expressed in the Jackson-Feenberg form. A diagrammatic analysis is presented for the construction and evaluation of the cluster expansions of the required quantities incorporating the Fermi hypernetted chain theory.
We demonstrated in the previous chapter (Chapter 1) that the evaluation of matrix elements between states represented by the Slater determinant can be evaluated unambiguously using Slater’s rule [1, 28, 40]. While the determinantal representation and the evaluation matrix elements between the states are quite straightforward, this procedure can eventually be ineffective and cumbersome with increasing size of the system. The occupation number formalism or second quantization technique introduced by Dirac in quantum field theory, in this context has been found to be quite formidable and elegant. This formalism not only allows us to represent the states and the operators in a compact and convenient form but also enables us to deal with systems containing variable numbers of particles without explicitly specifying the number of particles. It implicitly assumes the existence of an unspecified number of functions in a single-particle basis. These one-particle functions, which constitute the Hilbert space for N particles, are generally chosen to be spinorbital because of their orthogonality. In the case of fermions, the many-particle basis is the anti-symmetric product of N one-particle basis functions (Slater determinant). The vector space consisting of all possible anti-symmetric Hilbert spaces is referred to as the Fock space, in which the operators and functions are represented without specifying the number of particles.
We make use of our understanding of the ground state ${\ensuremath{\psi}}_{0}$ and elementary excitations ${\ensuremath{\psi}}_{q}$ of the strongly interacting Bose gas to construct a theory of strongly interacting mixed and Fermi gases. We consider the overcomplete basis set ${\ensuremath{\varphi}}^{k}{\ensuremath{\psi}}_{q}$, where ${\ensuremath{\varphi}}^{k}$ is a determinant of plane waves, and interpret the off-diagonal part of the hamiltonian as a three-point vertex, coupling the Fermi quasiparticles to the collective modes. This vertex dresses each fermion with its backflow and induces a two-fermion scattering via the interaction of the backflows. There is no residual (screened) two-body interaction in the problem. Finally we discuss the expansion parameter for strong interactions.
A new type of ``intermediate'' state, \ensuremath{\Vert}\ensuremath{\Psi}${\mathrm{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}}_{\mathit{J}}$〉, is introduced in the representation of many-body propagators and related resolvent matrix elements. A simple algebraic procedure is presented for constructing the unitary transformation matrix Q that relates the intermediate states and the exact energy eigenstates, \ensuremath{\Vert}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}}_{\mathit{n}}$〉, of the interacting system. Here the starting point is the matrix X of generalized spectroscopic amplitudes 〈${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}}_{\mathit{n}}$\ensuremath{\Vert}C${\mathrm{^}}_{\mathit{J}}$\ensuremath{\Vert}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}}_{0}^{\mathit{N}}$〉, where C${\mathrm{^}}_{\mathit{J}}$ denotes a physical excitation operator and \ensuremath{\Vert}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}}_{0}^{\mathit{N}}$〉 is the N-electron ground state. A block QR decomposition [G. H. Golub and C. F. von Loan, MatrixB Computations (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1989)] of X according to the equation X=Q F allows one to determine explicit expressions for the subblocks of Q and the intermediate propagator representations constituted by a nondiagonal effective interaction matrix C and an effective spectroscopic matrix f. These effective quantities f and C are formulated entirely in terms of ground-state density-matrix elements and related energy expectation values. The relevance of the intermediate representations as a means for deriving computational schemes is based on the regularity and compactness of the perturbation expansions for the effective matrices f and C. These basic properties also establish that the intermediate representations are closed-form versions of the algebraic-diagrammatic construction approximation schemes derived previously as a reformulation of the original diagrammatic propagator perturbation series. The intermediate representations represent a link between algebraic and diagrammatic approaches in the field of propagator methods and are expected to be useful also in the development of nonperturbative approximations.