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Physical review. B, Condensed matter

Towards a self-consistent random-phase approximation for Fermi systems

F. Catara, G. Piccitto, Michelangelo Sambataro, Nguyen Van Giai

Published Dec 15, 1996• 64 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a method which allows us to treat correlations in finite Fermi systems in a more consistent way than the random-phase approximation (RPA). The quasiboson approximation (QBA), where expectation values in the ground state of the system are approximated by their values in the uncorrelated reference state, is avoided in our approach where the correlated ground state is always used. We derive a closed, nonlinear set of equations which determines the energies and wave functions of the excited states as well as the single-particle occupation numbers in the ground state. As an example we apply to metallic clusters a simplified version of the approach which represents, however, a significant improvement over previous attempts to go towards a self-consistent RPA. We show that our method allows one to correct for the inadequacy of standard RPA in cases where the use of QBA becomes questionable.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.54.17536

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We present a method which allows us to treat correlations in finite Fermi systems in a more consistent way than the random-phase approximation (RPA). The quasiboson approximation (QBA), where expectation values in the ground state of the system are approximated by their values in the uncorrelated reference state, is avoided in our approach where the correlated ground state is always used. We derive a closed, nonlinear set of equations which determines the energies and wave functions of the excited states as well as the single-particle occupation numbers in the ground state. As an example we apply to metallic clusters a simplified version of the approach which represents, however, a significant improvement over previous attempts to go towards a self-consistent RPA. We show that our method allows one to correct for the inadequacy of standard RPA in cases where the use of QBA becomes questionable.
We present a method for the treatment of correlations in finite Fermi systems in a more consistent way than the random phase approximation (RPA). The main differences with respect to previous approaches are underlined and discussed. In particular, no use of renormalized operators is made. By means of the method of linearization of equations of motion, we derive a set of RPA-like equations depending only on the one-body density matrix. The latter is no more assumed to be diagonal and it is expressed in terms of the XXX and YYY amplitudes of the particle-hole phonon operators. This set of nonlinear equations is solved via an iterative procedure, which allows us to calculate the energies and the wave functions of the excited states. After presenting our approach in its general formulation, we test its quality by using metal clusters as a good test laboratory for a generic many-body system. Comparison to RPA shows significant improvements. We discuss also how the present approach can be further extended beyond the particle-hole configuration space, getting an approximation scheme in which energy weighted sum rules are exactly preserved, thus solving a problem common to all extension of RPA proposed until now. The implementation of such approach will be afforded in a future work.
The second random-phase approximation (SRPA) is the simplest and most natural extension of the RPA. It enlarges the space of the elementary modes introduced to describe the collective states by adding 2 particle -2 hole excitations to the 1 particle -1 hole ones of the RPA. In deriving the SRPA equations, use is made, as in the RPA, of the so-called quasi-boson approximation (QBA) where expectation values in the ground state of the system are approximated by their values in the uncorrelated reference state. This, however, has been shown to imply a degree of approximation worse than that in the RPA. It is, therefore, necessary to improve the QBA by considering a reference state which contains some correlations. Having in mind to perform such calculations for realistic systems, we consider a simple extension of the SRPA in which the reference state contains 2 particle - 2 hole correlations. The quality of such an extension is tested by applying it to a solvable three-level model and found to be good.
A method is proposed to improve the treatment of the ground-state correlations in a finite Fermi system compared with the standard random phase approximation (RPA) or earlier suggested renormalized RPA. The correlations lead to nonzero quasiparticle occupancies in the ground state. The method employs modified quasiparticles obtained by a canonical transformation of usual quasiparticles explicitly involving the quasiparticle occupation numbers. A set of equations is derived, which allows one to determine these occupation numbers along with the RPA modes. The formalism is illustrated with the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, and a model for superconducting pairing at a finite temperature. With the new approach, the ground-state correlations are significantly reduced, the energy of the first excited state becomes closer to the exact solution around the region where the RPA collapses, and the superconducting gap monotonously decreases instead of the sharp phase transition. We discuss the effective equivalence of the interaction effects and variation of temperature for the ground-state correlations.
We develop a procedure recently proposed for the treatment of correlations in finite Fermi systems in a more consistent way than the random phase approximation (RPA). The one-body density matrix in the correlated ground state is now no more assumed to be diagonal in the Hartree-Fock basis. An expression is rather provided where this quantity is expressed in terms of the X and Y amplitudes of the particle-hole phonon operators. A set of RPA-like equations depending only on the one-body density matrix is then constructed by means of the method of linearized equations of motion and solved via an iterative procedure. The procedure is employed to calculate spectra and strength distributions of several neutral and charged Na and Li metal clusters within the jellium approximation. Improvements are observed with respect to standard RPA calculations.
Collective excitations are one of the most common and interesting features of many-body systems. Of particular interest are those collective modes which can be interpreted in terms of vibrations. Nuclei show a large variety of such modes, both low-lying and high-lying. In particular the giant dipole resonance is due to the coherent motion of protons against neutrons. Its analogue in metal clusters is the dipole plasmon excitation, due to the oscillation of electrons against the positive ions. The Random Phase Approximation (RPA) is extensively used as a microscopic theory to study the basic properties of these collective excitations. In the derivation of RPA use is made of the Quasi Boson Approximation (QBA). It consists in replacing the expectation values in the correlated ground state with those in the uncorrelated (Hartree-Fock) one. Strictly related to QBA is the feature of RPA of predicting a harmonic spectrum. On the other hand, the existence of anharmonicities in the multiphonon spectra of nuclei and their relevance in various physical processes are well established. Overcoming QBA has represented the starting point of many attempts aiming at improving RPA. A recently developed approach in this line will be presented and discussed. A very nice property of RPA is to satisfy Energy Weighted Sum Rules (EWSR). However, some violations are present in several extensions of RPA. We will show how to cure this shortcoming.
We present a new extension of the random-phase approximation method: the quasiboson approximation is avoided and correlations are included in the ground state without resorting to renormalized operators or renormalized matrix elements; the configuration space is enlarged by considering also elementary excitations corresponding to the annihilation of a particle (hole) and the creation of another particle (hole) on the correlated ground state, together with the particle-hole ones. Two new and relevant advantages of this method with respect to the existing extensions of random-phase approximation are highlighted: (i) the energy weighted sum rules are completely satisfied; (ii) the problem of the existence of nonphysical states in the spectrum, related to the inclusion of particle-particle and hole-hole configurations, is solved: a way to unambiguously disentangle physical from nonphysical states in the excitation spectrum is presented. The method is applied here to a three-level Lipkin model where its quality can be judged by comparing with the exact results. Both advantages (i) and (ii) shall lead to feasible future applications of this extended RPA to several realistic cases.