Low-temperature conductivity in a narrow half-filled Hubbard chain

Abstract

In this paper, the low-temperature (${k}_{B}T\ensuremath{\ll}U$) frequency-dependent $\ensuremath{\sigma}(\ensuremath{\omega})$ conductivity in a half-filled Hubbard chain is calculated to the lowest order in the parameter $\frac{t}{U}$ and in closed form to all orders in $\frac{t}{\ensuremath{\omega}}\ensuremath{-}U$. Here $t$ is the nearest-neighbor hopping integral and $U$ the intra-atomic Coulomb interaction. The problem is formulated in terms of the number of random walks of an electron and a hole which leave the spin configuration unchanged, at temperatures such that ${k}_{B}T\ensuremath{\ll}t\ensuremath{\ll}U$ (where ${k}_{B}$ is Boltzmann's constant). The conductivity then depends on spin configuration, and for both the antiferromagnetic (AF) ($T=0$ K) ground state and the equiprobable or random arrangement ($R$) (${k}_{B}T\ensuremath{\gg}\frac{{t}^{2}}{U}$) an exact expression is found. For the partially disordered regime ($T\ensuremath{\simeq}{T}_{N}$) the thermodynamical averaging is expressed in terms of a phenomenological spin-spin correlation length $l$ which interpolates between the AF and $R$ exact limits. This solution is such that for $l=\ensuremath{\infty}$ the AF line shape is recovered except at the center of the spectrum (i.e., at $\ensuremath{\omega}=U$), where the absorption always diverges logarithmically. For a ferromagnetic ($l=0$) arrangement induced by a magnetic field, the absorption then vanishes. The line shapes obtained have sharp edges at $|\ensuremath{\omega}|=U\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}4t$ for all temperatures. At the critical value of $4t=U$ the AF ground state is found to undergo a metallic transition. A closed-form analytical expression in terms of the three elliptical integrals is given for the absorption lines. Except for the AF case, which has a square-root edge singularity, the absorption is found to vanish linearly. Finally, a comparison is made with some recent calculations.