We study the strongly correlated two-dimensional Hubbard model for general band filling by a transformation of the model to a spin-free representation. A pair transformation is constructed that maps a strong-coupling Hubbard problem in which the particles obey Fermi statistics onto a spin-free representation in which the charge degrees of freedom are spinless fermions, while constraining the physical system to an eigenstate of total spin. The Gutzwiller constraint is thus satisfied kinematically in the transformed problem for a class of Pauli-allowed many-fermion spatial wave functions. We find that the required pair transformation within the spin-singlet sector leads to correlated many-body states with broken time-reversal symmetry. For small band filling in the spin-singlet sector, the transformed problem for the charge degrees of freedom is formally identical to a problem for indistinguishable noninteracting 1/2 anyons (semions). For small deviations from half filling, the charge degrees of freedom (holes) in the singlet sector are again naturally represented as 1/2 anyons but in the presence of a strong uniform background U(1) gauge field. Exactly at half filling the charge degrees of freedom are quenched, and the formulation reduces to the spin-singlet wave function for the two-dimensional lattice first proposed by Kalmeyer and Laughlin. The one- and two-hole dynamics around this neutral chiral state on the two-dimensional lattice are considered in detail. Finally, numerical calculations are reported to test the accuracy of these states as approximations to the ground state of the Hubbard Hamiltonian. Over a range of band fillings we find that Gutzwiller projections of free-particle determinants provide improved hole kinetic energies, while a projection of the \ensuremath{\pi} flux phase provides improved spin-exchange energies for the pure Hubbard problem.
We study the strongly correlated two-dimensional Hubbard model for general band filling by a transformation of the model to a spin-free representation. A pair transformation is constructed that maps a strong-coupling Hubbard problem in which the particles obey Fermi statistics onto a spin-free representation in which the charge degrees of freedom are spinless fermions, while constraining the physical system to an eigenstate of total spin. The Gutzwiller constraint is thus satisfied kinematically in the transformed problem for a class of Pauli-allowed many-fermion spatial wave functions. We find that the required pair transformation within the spin-singlet sector leads to correlated many-body states with broken time-reversal symmetry. For small band filling in the spin-singlet sector, the transformed problem for the charge degrees of freedom is formally identical to a problem for indistinguishable noninteracting 1/2 anyons (semions). For small deviations from half filling, the charge degrees of freedom (holes) in the singlet sector are again naturally represented as 1/2 anyons but in the presence of a strong uniform background U(1) gauge field. Exactly at half filling the charge degrees of freedom are quenched, and the formulation reduces to the spin-singlet wave function for the two-dimensional lattice first proposed by Kalmeyer and Laughlin. The one- and two-hole dynamics around this neutral chiral state on the two-dimensional lattice are considered in detail. Finally, numerical calculations are reported to test the accuracy of these states as approximations to the ground state of the Hubbard Hamiltonian. Over a range of band fillings we find that Gutzwiller projections of free-particle determinants provide improved hole kinetic energies, while a projection of the \ensuremath{\pi} flux phase provides improved spin-exchange energies for the pure Hubbard problem.
We discuss a representation of the large-U Hubbard Hamiltonian for fermions on a two-dimensional lattice, in which the Gutzwiller constraint is imposed as a kinematical constraint on the motion of the underlying quasiparticles. At the half-filled band this construction identifies the ``Kalmeyer-Laughlin'' singlet as a unique Jastrow state satisfying the quantum constraints of the large-U problem. Away from half filling the construction leads to a class of correlated singlet fluid states which are identified with generalized flux phases of the diluted resonating-valence-bond.
The Fermi liquid theory is a central concept in modern condensed matter physics used to describe conventional metals. A state of this universality class consists of well-defined quasiparticles, which occupy a finite number of states within a Fermi volume defined in momentum space. According to the Luttinger’s theorem, such a state encloses a Fermi volume proportional to the electron density modulo the filled bands if no symmetry is broken. In the past decades strong deviations from Fermi liquid theory have been observed in the scaling behavior of thermodynamic observables in different materials, among which are for instance cuprates and iron pnictides. This thesis is about two prototypical systems that can not be described by Fermi liquid theory. The first part of this work investigates two-dimensional effective models, which are in a Mott insulating state at half-filling and have a finite conductivity when doped with holes. In such a Mott insulating state, the charge carriers are strongly localized due to the Coulomb repulsion. Hence, strong correlations are assumed to have a strong impact on the formation of the ground state, also in the regime of small hole concentration. In a first project we have used a so-called spinon dopon mean-field theory to represent the two-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model with strong on-site repulsive interaction in effective degrees of freedom, in which the holes can be embedded into a quantum spin liquid. The corresponding SU(2) invariant ground state belongs to the class of fractionalized Fermi liquids. In a second project we investigate a quantum dimer model, an effective model based on a Hilbert space spanned by short range singlets and bound states of holes and spins. The focus here is on the calculation of the hole-part of the electron spectral function by using exact diagonalization and its comparison with two analytic methods, a diagrammatic computation based on the Bethe-Salpeter equation and a so-called two-mode approximation. The electron spectral function shows a similar analytic form in momentum space between nodal and antinodal point when compared to results from photoemission spectroscopy experiments on cuprates. Furthermore, in a subsequent work we calculate the exact ground state of the quantum dimer model along a certain parameter line. In order to analyze the behavior of the elctron spectral function when increasing the density of holes, we investigate the Fermi-Hubbard model in a current project using a dynamical mean-field approach. To solve the 4-site cluster impurity problem, we use a numerical renormalization group approach. However, numerical limitations force us to restrict the analysis to spin-polarized baths. According to the spectral data, the system is similar to the SU(2) invariant case at half-filling in a Mott insulating state and posseses a momentum-selective energy gap at finite doping. The topology of the Fermi surface shows a Lifshitz transition when increasing the hole concentration. Here, the curvature of the Fermi surface changes from electron- to hole-like. For comparison we apply the dynamical mean-field theory also to the quantum dimer model and observe that the electron spectral functions at finite doping are qualitatively similar to that of the two-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model. The second half of the work is about Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory, which is used to describe the low-energy effective degrees of freedom of one-dimensional systems. Here, we first discuss a conceptional extension of the operator-based bosonization theory for one-dimensional systems. This extension is especially suited for inhomogeneous one-dimensional systems. First, we investigate a one-dimensional system with a local interation potential and compute an exact solution of the single particle propagator at T = 0. The critical exponent of the single particle propagator has an unconventional form as a function of the microscopic Tomonaga-Luttinger parameters, which is not covered by the original Luttinger paradigm postulated by F. Duncan M. Haldane. In a second project on one-dimensional systems, we study the impact of scattering processes among bosonic low-energy excitations on the thermalization process. Such scattering processes are irrelevant on large length scales, however strongly affect the dynamics. In our analytic analysis we focus on a experimental setup, where a one-dimensional Bose gas is instantaneously splitted in two identical, however strongly correlated, halves of one-dimensional electronic systems. In the following, the corresponding non-equilibrium state runs through multiple regimes in time, such as a metastable prethermalization regime. However, above a certain threshold in time such scattering processes cause an effective thermalization of the system. In order to demonstrate this, we compute the kinetic equation in the Keldysh field integral formalism from a diagrammatic expansion based on a self-consistent Born approximation.
We demonstrate an exact local transformation which maps a purely Fermionic many-body system to a system of spinful bosons and spinless fermions, demonstrating a possible path to a non-Fermi-liquid state. We apply this to the half-filled Hubbard model and show how the transformation maps the ordinary spin half Fermionic degrees of freedom exactly and without introducing Hilbert space constraints to a chargelike quasicharge fermion and a spinlike quasispin Boson while preserving all the symmetries of the model. We present approximate solutions with localized charge which emerge naturally from the Hubbard model in this form. Our results strongly suggest that charge tends to remain localized for large values of the Hubbard U.
In the first part of the present Thesis, the ground state (GS) properties of the quasi-one-dimensional AB₂ Hubbard model are investigated taking the effects of charge and spin quantum fluctuations on equal footing. Using a functional integral approach, combined with a perturbative expansion in the strong-coupling regime, we obtain the Lagrangian density associated with the charge (Grassmann fields) and spin [SU(2) gauge fields] degrees of freedom. In the strong-coupling regime, we derive a perturbative low-energy theory suitable to describe the ferrimagnetic phase at half filling and the phases in the hole-doped regime. At half filling, a perturbative spin-wave analysis allows us to find the GS energy, sublattice magnetizations, and total spin per unit cell in the Lieb ferrimagnetic GS of the effective quantum Heisenberg model, in very good agreement with previous results. In the challenging hole doping regime away from half filling, we derive the corresponding t-J Hamiltonian. Under the assumption that charge and spin quantum correlations are decoupled, the evolution of the second-order spin-wave modes in the doped regime unveils the occurrence of spatially modulated spin structures and the emergence of phase separation in the presence of resonatingvalence-bond (RVB) states. We also calculate the doping-dependent GS energy and total spin per unit cell, including both Zeeman and orbital contributions, in which case it is shown that the spiral ferrimagnetic order collapses at a critical hole concentration. Notably, our analytical results in the doped regime are in very good agreement with density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) studies, where our assumption of spin-charge decoupling is numerically supported by the formation of charge-density waves in anti-phase with the modulation of the magnetic structure. In the second part, motivated by analogy with photonic lattices, we examine the edge states of a one-dimensional trimer lattice in the phases with and without inversion symmetry protection. In contrast to the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, we show that the edge states in the inversion-symmetry broken phase of the trimer model turn out to be chiral, i.e., instead of appearing in pairs localized at opposite edges they can appear at a single edge. Interestingly, these chiral edge states remain robust to large amounts of disorder. In addition, we use the Zak phase to characterize the emergence of degenerate edge states in the inversion-symmetric phase of the trimer model. Furthermore, we capture the essentials of the whole family of trimers through a mapping onto the commensurate off-diagonal Aubry-André-Harper model, which allows us to establish a direct connection between chiral edge modes in the two models, including the calculation of Chern numbers.We thus suggest that the chiral edge modes of the trimer lattice have a topological origin inherited from this effective mapping. Also, we find a nontrivial connection between the topological phase transition point in the trimer lattice and the one in its associated two-dimensional parent system, in agreement with results in the context of Thouless pumping in photonic lattices.
We study the metal-insulator transition and magnetic ordering in the Hubbard model using the particle-hole mapping. This representation facilitates the exact solution of the half-filled band in the limit of high spin. We find that the two-dimensional Hubbard model has a charge-excitation gap at half filling for any finite U in the high-spin region on both the bipartite square lattice and the nonbipartite triangular lattice. We show, using the Kohn insulator criteria, that this bound-state phase is indeed insulating. Using the information from the single-pair solution, we construct a generalized BCS type of many-body wave function and derive the gap equation for lower-spin states. We find that in some cases, the system goes through a phase transition to become a metal as the total spin Sz is lowered.
We introduce a slave-fermion formulation in which to study the charge dynamics of the half-filled Hubbard model on the square lattice. In this description, the charge degrees of freedom are represented by fermionic holons and doublons and the Mott-insulating characteristics of the ground state are the consequence of holon–doublon bound-state formation. The bosonic spin degrees of freedom are described by the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, yielding long-ranged (Néel) magnetic order at zero temperature. Within this framework and in the self-consistent Born approximation, we perform systematic calculations of the average double occupancy, the electronic density of states, the spectral function and the optical conductivity. Qualitatively, our method reproduces the lower and upper Hubbard bands, the spectral-weight transfer into a coherent quasiparticle band at their lower edges and the renormalisation of the Mott gap, which is associated with holon–doublon binding, due to the interactions of both quasiparticle species with the magnons. The zeros of the Green function at the chemical potential give the Luttinger volume, the poles of the self-energy reflect the underlying quasiparticle dispersion with a spin-renormalised hopping parameter and the optical gap is directly related to the Mott gap. Quantitatively, the square-lattice Hubbard model is one of the best-characterised problems in correlated condensed matter and many numerical calculations, all with different strengths and weaknesses, exist with which to benchmark our approach. From the semi-quantitative accuracy of our results for all but the weakest interaction strengths, we conclude that a self-consistent treatment of the spin-fluctuation effects on the charge degrees of freedom captures all the essential physics of the antiferromagnetic Mott–Hubbard insulator. We remark in addition that an analytical approximation with these properties serves a vital function in developing a full understanding of the fundamental physics of the Mott state, both in the antiferromagnetic insulator and at finite temperatures and dopings.