The cluster expansion for the energy for a system with Bijl-Dingle-Jastrow (BDJ) correlation structure is derived in a new form. It is shown how the theory may be related to the Brueckner-Bethe-Goldstone theory with a particular choice for the correlation operator (or wave matrix) appearing in the BDJ wave function. The three-body cluster terms are discussed. It is shown that these clusters contain a limited class of dispersive terms which may be included in the analysis of the two-body clusters. The three-body clusters are also shown to contain terms which correct for violations of the Pauli principle in the correlation operator.
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 and the high-density neutron gas, as well as equilibrium nuclear matter described with some potentials.
The method of correlated basis functions provides a means of systematically exploiting our intuitive understanding of real physical systems. Here we seek especially to develop a formalism for describing systems of strongly interacting fermions, for example, nuclei and liquid
He3, using a complete set of correlated functions ${\ensuremath{\Psi}}_{\mathrm{m}}=\frac{F{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}{{({\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}, {F}^{2}{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}})}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$.
F is taken as a product of two-body factors, $\ensuremath{\Pi}{i<j}^{}[f({r}_{\mathrm{ij}})]$, the
f(rij) embodying at least the correlations arising from strong short-range repulsions; and ${{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$, a set of independent-particle-model functions which might serve as a basis in the absence of highly singular interactions. The matrix elements
Hmn,
Nmn of the Hamiltonian and identity operators with respect to the correlated basis ${{\ensuremath{\Psi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ are evaluated by generalization of cluster-expansion techniques developed originally for the calculation of the partition function of a classical imperfect gas and adapted to the quantum-mechanical many-body problem by Iwamoto and Yamada. Contributions to our expansions for the
Hmn are classified according to order of magnitude in the quantity $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$, where $\ensuremath{\omega}=\ensuremath{\int}({f}^{2}(r)\ensuremath{-}1)d\mathrm{r}$ is a "correlation parameter" and $\ensuremath{\rho}$ the average particle density. To the extent that $|\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}|$ is small, it provides a true expansion parameter. A detailed technical discussion of the cluster expansions is given, with special emphasis on their symmetry properties upon truncation. Although the many-body problem is soluble by simultaneous diagonalization of the matrices (
Hmn) and (
Nmn), it is preferable first to transform to an orthonormal basis of "unperturbed" correlated functions ${{\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ with respect to which the Hamiltonian and identity operators have the matrix representations (
Hmn) and $({N}_{\mathrm{mn}})=({\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\mathrm{mn}})$, and then to attempt the separate diagonalization of (
Hmn). In general, such a transformation is expedited by the L\"owdin procedure carried out to the desired order in $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$. However, a Schmidt orthogonalization scheme might prove more advantageous in specific cases. Field-theoretic techniques (of both perturbative and nonperturbative nature) may be brought to bear in the diagonalization of (
Hmn). The inverse of the unitary transformation which takes the basis ${{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$ into the basis ${{\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{\mathrm{m}}}$, applied to the given singular Hamiltonian, leads---for any
F in the class considered---to a non-singular "effective Hamiltonian." Following this formal cue, we set out to construct explicitly a second-quantized effective Hamiltonian which generates the same matrix elements, to prescribed order in $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}$, when operating between independent-particle kets of the model occupation-number representation, as does the given Hamiltonian in the configuration-space representation, between the corresponding correlated functions of the L\"owdin basis. The quasiparticles described by this effective Hamiltonian interact via well-behaved two-body, three-body, \ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{},
Q-body, \ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{} potentials, in contrast to the highly singular two-body interactions of the real particles. For small $|\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\omega}|$, the effective two-body forces predominate. An avenue to deeper understanding of the applicability of the nuclear-shell model and the dressed-quasiparticle theory of liquid
He3 has been opened. This article treats only the formalism for a uniform extended medium. Numerical calculations, as well as the extension of the method to finite systems, will follow.
A method for the accurate evaluation of the diagonal and off-diagonal matrix elements of the Hamiltonian operator within the correlated basis function scheme is presented. Considering a basis consisting of Slater determinants, correlated with a Jastrow correlation factor, the expectation value of the kinetic energy operator has been expressed in the Jackson-Feenberg form. A diagrammatic analysis is presented for the construction and evaluation of the cluster expansions of the required quantities incorporating the Fermi hypernetted chain theory.