One-dimensional strongly correlated electron system, which is accompanied by interaction with the lattice, has attracted a great deal of interest in both experimental and theoretical studies. At half-filling, this system is a Mott insulator when the electron–lattice interaction is weak. We performed a theoretical investigation of the stable ground state of the one-dimensional strongly correlated electron system with electron–lattice interaction in which one electron is doped from half-filling. We used an extended Peierls–Hubbard model. We report here that, contrary to “common sense” suppositions about the one-dimensional electron–lattice system, a polaron solution appears under conditions of comparatively strong electron–lattice interaction in the Mott phase and that the polaron delocalizes under conditions of weak electron–lattice interaction. These two states are separated by the strength of the electron–lattice interaction.
The one-dimensional extended Peierls-Hubbard model is studied at several band fillings using the density-matrix renormalization-group method. Results show that the ground state evolves from a Mott-Peierls insulator, with a correlation gap at half-filling, to a soliton lattice with a small band gap away from half-filling. It is also confirmed that the ground state of the Peierls-Hubbard model undergoes a transition to a metallic state at finite doping. These results show that electronic correlation effects should be taken into account in theoretical studies of doped polyacetylene. They also show that a Mott-Peierls theory could explain the insulator-metal transition observed in this material.
The Hubbard-Holstein model describes fermions on a discrete lattice, with on-site repulsion between fermions and a coupling to phonons that are localized on sites. Generally, at half-filling, increasing the coupling
g to the phonons drives the system towards a Peierls charge density wave state, whereas increasing the electron-electron interaction
U drives the fermions into a Mott antiferromagnet. At low
g and
U, or when doped, the system is metallic. In one dimension, using quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we study the case where fermions have a long-range coupling to phonons, with characteristic range $\ensuremath{\xi}$, interpolating between the Holstein and Fr\"ohlich limits. Without electron-electron interaction, the fermions adopt a Peierls state when the coupling to the phonons is strong enough. This state is destabilized by a small coupling range $\ensuremath{\xi}$ and leads to a collapse of the fermions, and, consequently, phase separation. Increasing interaction
U will drive any of these three phases (metallic, Peierls, phase separation) into a Mott insulator phase. The phase separation region is once again present in the $U\ensuremath{\ne}0$ case, even for small values of the coupling range.
As a generic model describing quasi-one-dimensional Mott and Peierls insulators, we investigate the Holstein-Hubbard model for half-filled bands using numerical techniques. Combining Lanczos diagonalization with Chebyshev moment expansion we calculate exactly the photoemission and inverse photoemission spectra, and use these to establish the phase diagram of the model. While polaronic features emerge only at strong electron-phonon couplings, pronounced phonon signatures, such as multiquanta band states, can be found in the Mott insulating regime as well. In order to corroborate the Mott to Peierls transition scenario, we determine the spin- and charge-excitation gaps by a finite-size scaling analysis based on density-matrix renormalization-group calculations.
By utilizing the twisted boundary conditions in the exact diagonalization method, we investigate the single-particle spectral function of the extended Peierls-Hubbard model at both half-filling and quarter-filling. In one-dimensional (1D) interacting systems, the spin-charge separation can typically be identified in the single-particle spectral function by observing the distinct spinon and holon bands. At half-filling, starting from the pure 1D Hubbard model with the on-site interaction
U=10, we observe that the band structure indicative of the spin-charge separation gradually transitions to four individual bands as the Peierls instability $\ensuremath{\delta}$ increases. At
U=10 and $\ensuremath{\delta}=0.2$ where the spin-charge separation is still observable, increasing the nearest-neighbor interaction
V can drive the system to a charge-density-wave state when $V\ensuremath{\gtrsim}U/2$. At quarter-filling, on the other hand, the ground state of Peierls-Hubbard model manifests an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator in units of dimers. Increasing
U results in only a very small gap in the single-particle spectrum because even for $U=+\ensuremath{\infty}$, with the model transforming into a noninteracting half-filled dimerized tight-binding model, its gap determined by the Peierls instability $\ensuremath{\delta}$ remains small. Conversely, increasing
V can effectively open the single-particle gap and make the spinon and holon bands more prominent.
We re-examine the Peierls insulator to Mott insulator transition scenario in the one-dimensional Holstein-Hubbard model where, at half-filling, electron-phonon and electron-electron interactions compete for establishing charge- and spin-density-wave states, respectively. By means of large-scale density-matrix renormalization group calculations we determine the spin, single-particle and two-particle excitation gaps and prove —in the course of a careful finite-size scaling analysis— recent claims for an intervening metallic phase in the weak-coupling regime. We show that for large phonon frequencies the metallic region is even more extended than previously expected, and subdivided into ordinary Luttinger-liquid and bipolaronic-liquid phases.
The Hubbard-Holstein model is one of the simplest to incorporate both electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. In one dimension at half filling, the Holstein electron-phonon coupling promotes on-site pairs of electrons and a Peierls charge-density wave, while the Hubbard on-site Coulomb repulsion
U promotes antiferromagnetic correlations and a Mott insulating state. Recent numerical studies have found a possible third intermediate phase between Peierls and Mott states. From direct calculations of charge and spin susceptibilities, we show that (i) as the electron-phonon coupling is increased, first a spin gap opens, followed by the Peierls transition. Between these two transitions, the metallic intermediate phase has a spin gap, no charge gap, and properties similar to the negative-
U Hubbard model. (ii) The transitions between Mott/intermediate and intermediate/Peierls states are of the Kosterlitz-Thouless form. (iii) For larger
U, the two transitions merge at a tricritical point into a single first-order Mott/Peierls transition. In addition, we show that an intermediate phase also occurs in the quarter-filled model.