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Advances In Physics

Quantum field theory of phase transitions in Fermi systems

R. D. Mattuck, Börje Johansson

Published Jul 1, 1968• 62 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The theory of fermion phase transitions is reviewed from a unified field theoretic standpoint, based on the diagrammatic perturbation expansion of a generalized matrix propagator. Transitions from a normal to a condensed phase are characterized by the spontaneous appearance of long-range order and (in the presence of a suitable infinitesimal external field) broken symmetry. This is illustrated by the ferromagnetic, solid, superconducting and spindensity wave ground states. The phenomenon is explained qualitatively as caused by the creation of a long-range internal field, F, due to the interactions between particles. This field establishes long-range order in the system, and is in turn itself established by the long-range order, in a self-consistent fashion. The mechanism here is expressed quantitatively in terms of a self-consistent Dyson equation relating a generalized matrix propagator, G, to a proper self-energy matrix, Σ. The off-diagonal elements of G describe ‘anomalous’ propagation processes which are characteristic for the condensed phase, and they yield directly the long-range order parameters. The Σ-matrix is just the potential of the internal field. The method is illustrated by applying it to the ferromagnetic phase of a system with δ-function interaction between particles. Finally, the technique is used to derive the vertex part equation for the transition point.

DOI
10.1080/00018736800101356

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The theory of fermion phase transitions is reviewed from a unified field theoretic standpoint, based on the diagrammatic perturbation expansion of a generalized matrix propagator. Transitions from a normal to a condensed phase are characterized by the spontaneous appearance of long-range order and (in the presence of a suitable infinitesimal external field) broken symmetry. This is illustrated by the ferromagnetic, solid, superconducting and spindensity wave ground states. The phenomenon is explained qualitatively as caused by the creation of a long-range internal field, F, due to the interactions between particles. This field establishes long-range order in the system, and is in turn itself established by the long-range order, in a self-consistent fashion. The mechanism here is expressed quantitatively in terms of a self-consistent Dyson equation relating a generalized matrix propagator, G, to a proper self-energy matrix, Σ. The off-diagonal elements of G describe ‘anomalous’ propagation processes which are characteristic for the condensed phase, and they yield directly the long-range order parameters. The Σ-matrix is just the potential of the internal field. The method is illustrated by applying it to the ferromagnetic phase of a system with δ-function interaction between particles. Finally, the technique is used to derive the vertex part equation for the transition point.
A quantum-field approach for describing many-particle Fermi systems at finite temperatures and with spontaneously broken symmetry has been proposed. A generalized model of self-consistent field (SCF), which allows one to describe the states eligible for this system with various symmetries, is used as the initial approximation. A perturbation theory has been developed, and a diagram technique for temperature Green's functions (GFs) has been constructed. The Dyson's equation for the self-energy and vertex parts has been deduced.
This chapter discusses phase transitions and symmetry breaking and the mean field approach to condensation in Bose systems and looks at strong interactions in ‘normal’ Fermi systems. ‘Statistical field theory’ encompasses all the applications of quantum field theory to statistical physics. In the context of these notes, it is interpreted as the study of ‘statistical mechanics of quantum many particle systems, employing the methods of field theory’. The identification of the symmetry broken in a phase with long range order allows to construct simple ‘mean field’ theories which provide a qualitative description of the system. Field theoretic methods were those developed by Feynman, Dyson, Schwinger, and others for understanding QED. They were ‘field theoretic’ in that one had to go beyond quantum mechanics, and the Schrodinger equation, to set up a theory. Unlike quantum field theory, there is a Schrodinger equation governing many particle phenomena in condensed matter.
Introduces a new self-consistent summation procedure for the analysis of Feynman-Dyson perturbation series and demonstrate how a self-consistent expression for the self-energies of an interacting system may be obtained. The authors obtain the simplest self-consistent solution to the problem of an interacting many fermion system exhibiting long-range order, characterised by the existence of anomalous propagators, in which correlation effects not described by the Hartree-Fock-Gorkov approximation are important.
Zero-temperature or quantum phase transitions in itinerant electronic systems both with and without quenched disordered are discussed. Phase transitions considered include, the ferromagnetic transition, the antiferromagnetic transition, the superconductor-metal transition, and various metal-insulator transitions. Emphasis is placed on how to determine the universal properties that characterize these quantum phase transitions. For the first three of the phase transitions listed above, one of the main physical ideas established is that in zero-temperature systems there are soft or slow modes that exist in addition to the soft order parameter fluctuations, and that these modes can couple to the critical modes. These extra soft modes are shown to have a profound effect on the quantum critical properties. For quantum phase transitions involving zero wavenumber order parameters, i.e., the ferromagnetic and superconductor-metal transitions, these extra modes effectively lead to long-ranged effective interactions between order parameter fluctuations, which in turn lead to exactly soluble critical behaviors. For the antiferromagnetic case, we argue that while in low enough dimensions disorder fluctuation effects tend to destroy long-range order, quantum fluctuations counteract this effect and in some parameter regions manage to re-establish antiferromagnetic long-range order. For the metal-insulator transition, some recent new ideas are reviewed. In particular, it is pointed out that for interacting disordered electrons, one expects that in high dimensions the metal-insulator transition is related to the phase transition that occurs in random-field magnets in high dimensions. If the analogy also holds in three dimensions this suggests that the metal-insulator transition might have glassy characteristics.
The monograph is devoted to the main aspects of theoretical description of quantum many-body systems with Bose-Einstein or Fermi-Dirac statistics. We provide a review of modern methods of theoretical research, both analytical and numerical, as well as experimental realizations of unique effects and phenomena in quantum systems. The main attention is given to the theoretical study of exotic states in degenerate gases of atoms and quasiparticles. We develop a methology to accurately determine chemical potentials and other thermodynamic characteristics of ideal Bose and Fermi gases. These allow us to describe the ultraslow-light phenomenon in ultracold atomic gases in the framework of the microscopic approach that accounts for the internal degrees of freedom of bound states. The formalism relies on the linear response theory applied for the case of weak perturbation by the external elecromagnetic field. We also study Bose-Einstein condensation of photons in ideal atomic gases in different regimes of degeneracy of atomic and photonic components. A special attention is given to the Bogoliubov method of quasiaverages and related theory of a weakly interacting Bose gas with condensate. We extend the Bogoliubov theory to examine the spinor condensate and its magnetic states, as well as the condensate of heteronuclear Fermi-Fermi molecules. We also study a spatially periodic state of Bose-Einstein condensate, which can serve as a model for supersolid state of matter and develop the hydrodynamic theory of the latter. We outline the main statements of the Fermi liquid theory including the Pomeranchuk stability conditions of the normal state. It is shown that the violation of stability conditions results in certain phase transitions associated with the breaking of translational symmetry and rotational symmetry in the momentum space. We review a progress in the theoretical description of ultracold Fermi gases consisting of neutral atoms in the presence of the optical lattice spatial modulation. In case of multicomponent systems, a number of unique magnetically-ordered states are theoretically studied and predicted. We also develop a theory of highly dispersive spinful excitons in cobaltite compounds that explains certain unusual magnetic properties and effects in the resonant inelastic X-ray scattering on these materials.
Studying the strong correlation effects in interacting Dirac fermion systems is one of the most challenging problems in modern condensed matter physics. The long-range Coulomb interaction and the fermion-phonon interaction can lead to a variety of intriguing properties. In the strong-coupling regime, weak-coupling perturbation theory breaks down. The validity of 1/N1/N1/N expansion with NNN being the fermion flavor is also in doubt since NNN equals to 2 or 4 in realistic systems. Here, we investigate the interaction between (1+2)(1+2)(1+2)- and (1+3)(1+3)(1+3)-dimensional massless Dirac fermions and a generic scalar boson, and develop an efficient nonperturbative approach to access the strong-coupling regime. We first derive a number of self-consistently coupled Ward-Takahashi identities based on a careful symmetry analysis and then use these identities to show that the full fermion-boson vertex function is solely determined by the full fermion propagator. Making use of this result, we rigorously prove that the full fermion propagator satisfies an exact and self-closed Dyson-Schwinger integral equation, which can be solved by employing numerical methods. A major advantage of our nonperturbative approach is that there is no need to employ any small expansion parameter. Our approach provides a unified theoretical framework for studying strong Coulomb and fermion-phonon interactions. It may also be used to approximately handle the Yukawa coupling between fermions and order-parameter fluctuations around continuous quantum critical points. Our approach is applied to treat the Coulomb interaction in undoped graphene. We find that the renormalized fermion velocity exhibits a logarithmic momentum dependence but is nearly energy independent, and that no excitonic gap is generated by the Coulomb interaction. These theoretical results are consistent with experiments in graphene.