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Physical Review

Generalized Reaction Matrix Approach to the Theory of the Infinite Medium of Fermions

R. E. Prange, Abraham Klein

Published Nov 1, 1958• 25 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A closed set of coupled, nonlinear integral equations is obtained which completely describe a system of Fermi particles. The equations define the one and two-particle Green's functions which are completely analogous to those used in the field theory of fundamental particles. Special boundary conditions appropriate to the infinite medium of fermions are employed. Approximations to these equations are made which lead to a generalized Brueckner reaction-matrix formalism in the case of nuclear matter and which lead to an expression for the correlation energy in the case of the electron gas. The approximations for the system of nuclear matter are of three types: Ones which neglect the simultaneous interaction of three or more nucleons, the effective interactions of the vacant states below the Fermi sea, and the self-energy interactions with excited nucleons. The relationship between the reaction matrix and the expectation value of the actual potential energy is discussed. It is found that the energy levels given by the Brueckner formalism are nearly those given by a consideration of the actual energy, thus indicating that the shell-model energy levels for closed-shell-plus-one nuclei should be almost correct. A formula for the momentum distribution of nucleons in nuclear matter is obtained.

DOI
10.1103/physrev.112.1008

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Physical Review•Sep 1, 1958•22 citations
A closed set of coupled, nonlinear integral equations is obtained which completely describe a system of Fermi particles. The equations define the one and two-particle Green's functions which are completely analogous to those used in the field theory of fundamental particles. Special boundary conditions appropriate to the infinite medium of fermions are employed. Approximations to these equations are made which lead to a generalized Brueckner reaction-matrix formalism in the case of nuclear matter and which lead to an expression for the correlation energy in the case of the electron gas. The approximations for the system of nuclear matter are of three types: Ones which neglect the simultaneous interaction of three or more nucleons, the effective interactions of the vacant states below the Fermi sea, and the self-energy interactions with excited nucleons. The relationship between the reaction matrix and the expectation value of the actual potential energy is discussed. It is found that the energy levels given by the Brueckner formalism are nearly those given by a consideration of the actual energy, thus indicating that the shell-model energy levels for closed-shell-plus-one nuclei should be almost correct. A formula for the momentum distribution of nucleons in nuclear matter is obtained.
In the approximation neglecting any but single pair correlations, singularities of the reaction matrix render Brueckner's integral for the average energy per particle a singular integral. Several attempts to overcome this difficulty have been unsuccessful. By considering the infinite Fermi system to be a limit of finite systems, it is shown that the correct result merely involves replacing Brueckner's ordinary integral over diagonal reaction matrix elements by a principal value integral. In a finite system the level shift of a Bethe-Goldstone state differs from the diagonal reaction matrix element by a normalization factor which does not approach unity uniformly in the integration variable as the volume becomes infinite. In the neighborhood of a singularity the expression for the two-particle energy shift takes the form $\frac{\mathrm{cy}}{({y}^{2}+c{\mathcal{U}}^{\ensuremath{-}1})}$, where yyy is the unperturbed energy measured from the singularity, ccc is the square of a matrix element, and U\mathcal{U}U is the quantization volume. Hence as $\mathcal{U}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$ the sum over the energy yyy indeed approaches a principal value integral. An alternative derivation, employing a modified reaction matrix for which there is no difference between level shift and matrix element, leads to the same result. The general derivations are preceded by a soluble example.The connection of the Brueckner approximation with a phase-shift approximation for low-density systems is discussed. Some corrections to the higher order terms in existing derivations of the "separation method" expansion of the Brueckner reaction matrix are given.
A nonperturbative derivation of the Brueckner approximation to the ground-state energy of nuclear matter (with standard choice of hole and particle energies) is given within the framework of the method of correlated basis functions. The structure of the factor-cluster (FIY) expansion of the expectation value of the Hamiltonian with respect to a trial function incorporating short-range correlations in a general fashion, is analyzed for a uniform extended medium of fermions. With a special choice of correlated wave function, the Brueckner approximation is extracted from the FIY expansion by selective summation of two-body combination terms to all orders in the smallness parameter $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ associated, in this case, with both Brueckner-Bethe-Goldstone and FIY energy expansions. A reexamination of the numerical comparison of conventional Brueckner and Jastrow methods carried out earlier for two simple models of nuclear matter leads to the conclusion that it is inadvisable, at least in a Jastrow calculation satisfying the average Pauli condition, to incorporate the $O(\ensuremath{\kappa})$ contribution of the analog of the dispersion correction of reaction-matrix theory without at the same time including the $O(\ensuremath{\kappa})$ contribution of the analog of the Bethe-Faddeev term. For the uniform extended medium for the Jastrow choice of wave function, there is a formal cancellation of these two three-body contributions, the scale of this cancellation being governed by the size of $\ensuremath{\kappa}$. In the numerical example considered, $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ is about 0.22 and the cancellation goes something like +14 MeV-15 MeV=-1 MeV. These findings, when juxtaposed with the standard Brueckner results for the simple models in question, suggest that a departure from the standard prescription of hole and particle energies in reaction-matrix theory may be necessary when $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ is sizeable-as in liquid 3He^{3}\mathrm{He}3He and the high-density neutron gas, as well as equilibrium nuclear matter described with some potentials.
Recent developments in the many-body theory of interacting fermions are discussed employing a self-consistent Green function approach. This scheme is outlined and its application to nuclear systems is presented. Special attention is paid to the consistent inclusion of short-range and long-range correlations induced by realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions. Such correlations lead to occupation probabilities which deviate from the simple mean-field or shell-model description. The scheme is extended to incorporate relativistic effects. Also applications of field theoretical models for hadrons in a nuclear medium and their relation to QCD are discussed.
Abstract This chapter discusses the significance of two body interactions to many-body properties, beginning with a schematic model showing the relevance of short-range correlations beyond those of the Fermi gas. These correlations are studied within Brueckner theory and the help of the Bethe-Goldstone equation, mainly for nuclear matter proper but extensions to finite temperature are presented. Effective forces of Skyrme type are derived through an expansion of the G-matrix to small relative momenta. This scheme hinges essentially on the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approximation, for which results for binding energy and equilibrium density are presented. An alternative variational method based on Jastrow functions is sketched, which demonstrates the necessity for considering effective three body forces. The concept of the nuclear equation of state is presented and parameterized by Skyrme forces with density dependent parameters. Finally, a semi-classical transport theory is presented which accounts for statistical collisions of the nucleons.
A trial wavefunction is constructed for nuclear matter in terms of the reaction matrix. The trial function includes only two-particle excitations and the resulting energy expectation value for two-nucleon forces with a state-independent repulsive core of Yukawa shape approaches in the thermodynamic limit the energy given by the lowest-order Brueckner theory with standard dispersion. Evaluation of the energy expectation value is carried out in a systematic way by use of an identity that holds between the Hamiltonian and reaction matrix.
The general form of the energy of the ground state of a many-fermion system is shown to be exactly of the form proposed by Brueckner and Bethe, without approximation. In a variational treatment, if the trial wave function is picked containing only pair correlations, together with all possible unlinked pairs, it is described by a two-body excitation matrix 〈m1m2∣A∣p1p2〉〈{m}_{1}{m}_{2}|A|{p}_{1}{p}_{2}〉〈m1​m2​∣A∣p1​p2​〉. Variation of this matrix in the Ritz-Rayleigh principle yields a set of integral equations of the scattering type for the matrix AAA. Hole-state energies are given self-consistently in terms of the matrix AAA, but particle-state energies are Hartree-Fock energies. This may be corrected for by widely enlarging the class of terms admitted into the wave function. If the approximation is then made of omitting a class of terms, defined as cross-linked clusters in $〈\ensuremath{\psi}|H|\ensuremath{\psi}〉$, the particle-state energies are easily renormalized. Variation then leads to an infinite hierarchy of integral equations.