A procedure is proposed to obtain the exact self-energy in the many-body problem. This algorithm is based on the formal analysis to reach the exact theory by repeated applications of an operator F to an arbitrarily chosen input self-energy represented as a functional of the dressed Green's function. The operator F is so defined that the microscopic conservation law for particle number is satisfied. The rigorous self-energy is obtained by the solution of an eigenfunction of F. Particular attention is paid to the relation between the present procedure and the Baym-Kadanoff framework of conserving approximations. By simplifying the procedure in F with use of the generalized Ward identity, we suggest a practical method to implement this algorithm rather easily in actual systems. In order to suggest future directions to improve on this practical method, the recently developed mean-field theory for the Hubbard model in the limit of high spatial dimensions is also discussed in the context of our theory.
A procedure is proposed to obtain the exact self-energy in the many-body problem. This algorithm is based on the formal analysis to reach the exact theory by repeated applications of an operator F to an arbitrarily chosen input self-energy represented as a functional of the dressed Green's function. The operator F is so defined that the microscopic conservation law for particle number is satisfied. The rigorous self-energy is obtained by the solution of an eigenfunction of F. Particular attention is paid to the relation between the present procedure and the Baym-Kadanoff framework of conserving approximations. By simplifying the procedure in F with use of the generalized Ward identity, we suggest a practical method to implement this algorithm rather easily in actual systems. In order to suggest future directions to improve on this practical method, the recently developed mean-field theory for the Hubbard model in the limit of high spatial dimensions is also discussed in the context of our theory.
In this work the basic formalism of non-equilibrium Green’s functions is presented and then applied to study a Ward identity in linear response theory, namely the frequency sum-rule. It can be proven that the frequency sum-rule is satisfied when the quantities involved are calculated using perturbation theory within a conserving approximation for the self-energy. To illustrate this equality along with other properties of the response function, a numerical application that solves the Kadanoff-Baym equations for systems of Hubbard chains was used. The results showed that the frequency sum-rule was satisfied to the same extent by all the conserving approximations used as by the exact diagonalization numerical results. The density response function was analyzed diagrammatically for a series of conserving approximations for the self-energy and this demonstrated that even for a first order in perturbation theory approximation for the self-energy, the response function has a corresponding complex, third order in the perturbation diagrammatic structure.
We consider a general class of approximations which guarantees the conservation of particle number in many-body perturbation theory. To do this we extend the concept of $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}$ derivability for the self-energy $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}$ to a larger class of diagrammatic terms in which only some of the Green's function lines contain the fully dressed Green's function G. We call the corresponding approximations for $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}$ partially $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}$ derivable. A special subclass of such approximations, which are gauge invariant, is obtained by dressing loops in the diagrammatic expansion of $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}$ consistently with G. These approximations are number conserving but do not have to fulfill other conservation laws, such as the conservation of energy and momentum. From our formalism we can easily deduce whether commonly used approximations will fulfill the continuity equation, which implies particle number conservation. We further show how the concept of partial $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}$ derivability plays an important role in the derivation of a generalized sum rule for the particle number, which reduces to the Luttinger-Ward theorem in the case of a homogeneous electron gas, and the Friedel sum rule in the case of the Anderson model. To do this we need to ensure that the Green's function has certain complex analytic properties, which can be guaranteed if the spectral function is positive-semidefinite. The latter property can be ensured for a subset of partially $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}$-derivable approximations for the self-energy, namely those that can be constructed from squares of so-called half diagrams. For the case in which the analytic requirements are not fulfilled we highlight a number of subtle issues related to branch cuts, pole structure, and multivaluedness. We also show that various schemes of computing the particle number are consistent for particle number conserving approximations.
I review the way the many-body Green functions are used to renormalize the perturbation theory of correlated fermions. The Green functions are introduced to implement systematically dynamical corrections to the static mean-field theory. The renormalizations enter the perturbation theory via self-consistent evaluations of one-particle and two-particle Green functions. The one-particle self-consistency is discussed within the Baym-Kadanoff construction. We point to an inherent dichotomy of the Baym-Kadanoff approach in the relation between one and two-particle Green functions. They are the Schwinger-Dyson equation, directly derived from the generating Luttinger-Ward functional, and the Ward identity. The latter imposes a severe restriction on the two-particle irreducible vertex and is not guaranteed in the Baym-Kadanoff approach. No approximate theory is capable to obey both relations. I further discuss the two-particle approach with two-particle renormalizations that offers a way to reconcile the Schwinger-Dyson equation and the Ward identity. The two-particle irreducible vertex from the critical Bethe-Salpeter equation becomes a generating functional in the two-particle renormalization of the perturbation theory. The irreducible vertex is used in the Ward identity to determine the order parameter beyond the critical point and in the Bethe-Salpeter equation representing the vertex of the Schwinger-Dyson equation to determine the spectral self-energy in such a way that the thermodynamic critical behavior from both equations is qualitatively the same. Finally, I discuss a static mean-field-like approximation with a renormalized effective interaction determined self-consistently that leads to a qualitatively correct description of strong electron correlations in impurity and lattice models.
This paper investigates the criteria for maintenance of the macroscopic conservation laws of number, momentum, and energy by approximate two-particle correlation functions in many-body systems. The methods of generating such approximations are the same as in a previous paper. However, the derivations of the conservation laws given here clarify both why the approximation method works and the connection between the macroscopic conservation laws and those at the vertices.Conserving nonequilibrium approximations are based on self-consistent approximations to the one-particle Green's function. The same condition that ensures that the nonequilibrium theory be conserving also ensures that the equilibrium approximation has the following properties. The several common methods for determining the partition function from the one-particle Green's function all lead to the same result. When applied to a zero-temperature normal fermion system, the approximation procedure maintains the Hugenholtz-Van Hove theorem. Consequently, the self-consistent version of Brueckner's nuclear matter theory obeys this theorem.
We investigate analytically the performance of many-body energy functionals, derived by Klein, Luttinger, and Ward, at different levels of diagrammatic approximations, ranging from second Born, to , to the so-called T matrix, for the calculation of total energies and potential energy surfaces. We benchmark our theoretical results on the extended two-site Hubbard model, which is analytically solvable and for which several exact properties can be calculated. Despite its simplicity, this model displays the physics of strongly correlated electrons: it is prototypical of the H 2 dissociation, a notoriously difficult problem to solve accurately for the majority of mean-field-based approaches. We show that both functionals exhibit good to excellent variational properties, particularly in the case of the Luttinger-Ward one, which is in close agreement with fully self-consistent calculations, and we elucidate the relation between the accuracy of the results and the different input one-body Green's functions. Provided that these are wisely chosen, we show how the Luttinger-Ward functional can be used as a computationally inexpensive alternative to fully self-consistent many-body calculations, without sacrificing the precision of the results obtained. Furthermore, in virtue of this accuracy, we argue that this functional can also be used to rank different many-body approximations at different regimes of electronic correlation, once again bypassing the need for self-consistency. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
The cost of the exact solution of the many-electron problem is believed to be exponential in the number of degrees of freedom, necessitating approximations that are controlled and accurate but numerically tractable. In this paper, we show that one of these approximations, the self-energy embedding theory (SEET), is derivable from a universal functional and therefore implicitly satisfies conservation laws and thermodynamic consistency. We also show how other approximations, such as the dynamical mean field theory and its combinations with many-body perturbation theory, can be understood as a special case of SEET and discuss how the additional freedom present in SEET can be used to obtain systematic convergence of results.