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Methodological study of computational approaches to address the problem of strong correlations

Juho Lee

Published Jan 1, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The main focus of this thesis is the detailed investigation of computational methods to tackle strongly correlated materials in which a rich variety of exotic phenomena are found. A many-body problem with sizable electronic correlations can no longer be explained by independent-particle approximations such as density functional theory (DFT) or tight-binding approaches. The influence of an electron to the others is too strong for each electron to be treated as an independent quasiparticle and consequently those standard band-structure methods fail even at a qualitative level. One of the most powerful approaches for strong correlations is the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT), which has enlightened the understanding of the Mott transition based on the Hubbard model. For realistic applications, the dynamical mean-field theory is combined with various independent-particles approaches. The most widely used one is the DMFT combined with the DFT in the local density approximation (LDA), so-called LDA+DMFT. In this approach, the electrons in the weakly correlated orbitals are calculated by LDA while others in the strongly correlated orbitals are treated by DMFT. Recently, the method combining DMFT with Hedin's $GW$ approximation was also developed, in which the momentum-dependent self-energy is also added. In this thesis, we discuss the application of those methodologies based on DMFT. First, we apply the dynamical mean-field theory to solve the 3-dimensional Hubbard model in Chap. 3. In this application, we model the interface between the thermodynamically coexisting metal and Mott insulator. We show how to model the required slab geometry and extract the electronic spectra. We construct an effective Landau free energy and compute the variation of its parameters across the phase diagram. Finally, using a linear mixture of the density and double-occupancy, we identify a natural Ising order parameter which unifies the treatment of the bandwidth and filling controlled Mott transitions. Secondly, we study the double-counting problem, a subtle issue that arises in LDA+DMFT. We propose a highly precise double-counting functional, in which the intersection of LDA and DMFT is calculated exactly, and implement a parameter-free version of the LDA+DMFT that is tested on one of the simplest strongly correlated systems, the H2 molecule. We show that the exact double-counting treatment along with a good DMFT projector leads to very accurate and total energy and excitation spectrum of H$_2$ molecule. Finally, we implement various versions of $GW$+DMFT, in its fully self-consistent way, one shot GW approximation, and quasiparticle self-consistent scheme, and studied how well these combined methods perform on H$_2$ molecule as compared to more established methods such as LDA+DMFT. We found that most flavors of GW+DMFT break down in strongly correlated regime due to causality violation. Among GW+DMFT methods, only the self-consistent quasiparticle GW+DMFT with static double-counting, and a new method with causal double-counting, correctly recover the atomic limit at large H-atom separation. While some flavors of GW+DMFT improve the single-electron spectra of LDA+DMFT, the total energy is best predicted by LDA+DMFT, for which the exact double-counting is known, and is static.

DOI
10.7282/t3s184zt

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The main focus of this thesis is the detailed investigation of computational methods to tackle strongly correlated materials in which a rich variety of exotic phenomena are found. A many-body problem with sizable electronic correlations can no longer be explained by independent-particle approximations such as density functional theory (DFT) or tight-binding approaches. The influence of an electron to the others is too strong for each electron to be treated as an independent quasiparticle and consequently those standard band-structure methods fail even at a qualitative level. One of the most powerful approaches for strong correlations is the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT), which has enlightened the understanding of the Mott transition based on the Hubbard model. For realistic applications, the dynamical mean-field theory is combined with various independent-particles approaches. The most widely used one is the DMFT combined with the DFT in the local density approximation (LDA), so-called LDA+DMFT. In this approach, the electrons in the weakly correlated orbitals are calculated by LDA while others in the strongly correlated orbitals are treated by DMFT. Recently, the method combining DMFT with Hedin's GWGWGW approximation was also developed, in which the momentum-dependent self-energy is also added. In this thesis, we discuss the application of those methodologies based on DMFT. First, we apply the dynamical mean-field theory to solve the 3-dimensional Hubbard model in Chap. 3. In this application, we model the interface between the thermodynamically coexisting metal and Mott insulator. We show how to model the required slab geometry and extract the electronic spectra. We construct an effective Landau free energy and compute the variation of its parameters across the phase diagram. Finally, using a linear mixture of the density and double-occupancy, we identify a natural Ising order parameter which unifies the treatment of the bandwidth and filling controlled Mott transitions. Secondly, we study the double-counting problem, a subtle issue that arises in LDA+DMFT. We propose a highly precise double-counting functional, in which the intersection of LDA and DMFT is calculated exactly, and implement a parameter-free version of the LDA+DMFT that is tested on one of the simplest strongly correlated systems, the H2 molecule. We show that the exact double-counting treatment along with a good DMFT projector leads to very accurate and total energy and excitation spectrum of H2_22​ molecule. Finally, we implement various versions of GWGWGW+DMFT, in its fully self-consistent way, one shot GW approximation, and quasiparticle self-consistent scheme, and studied how well these combined methods perform on H2_22​ molecule as compared to more established methods such as LDA+DMFT. We found that most flavors of GW+DMFT break down in strongly correlated regime due to causality violation. Among GW+DMFT methods, only the self-consistent quasiparticle GW+DMFT with static double-counting, and a new method with causal double-counting, correctly recover the atomic limit at large H-atom separation. While some flavors of GW+DMFT improve the single-electron spectra of LDA+DMFT, the total energy is best predicted by LDA+DMFT, for which the exact double-counting is known, and is static.
Strong electronic correlations are the root of many fascinating phenomena of condensed matter physics. However, they also make calculations notoriously difficult. This thesis is concerned with the development and improvement of computational methods for strongly correlated electron systems. After a brief recapitulation of the Green’s function formalism,which is the theoretical basis of most such methods, we discuss the analytical continuation from imaginary to real frequencies. Especially the maximum entropy method is explained in detail and an implementation there of is presented.The remainder of this thesis deals with methods to compute Green’s functions on thei maginary frequency axis. First, the Anderson impurity model (AIM) is considered. It can be solved numerically – a task for which several methods exist. We focus on continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo with worm sampling, through which various kinds of correlation functions can be calculated. On this basis we derive and implement symmetric improved estimators that allow for the computation of the self-energy and vertex functions where the level of stochastic noise is largely reduced with respect to conventional estimators.As a next step the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) is introduced as a method to capture local correlations in the Hubbard model (HM) by self-consistently mapping it onto the AIM. We study the convergence behavior of this iterative procedure and the improvement of convergence due to mixing. Then, we compare electron scattering rates from DMFT in the weak-coupling regime of the square-lattice HM to results from Boltzmann scattering theory.While local correlations account for many interesting phenomena, such as the Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transition, they are not sufficient to correctly describe, e.g., the physics of phase transitions in two- or three-dimensional systems. It is thus the final step in this thesis to also include nonlocal correlations by means of the dynamical vertex approximation (DΓA). For this we develop a new self-consistency scheme, which is then applied to several systems: We study the square-lattice HM, where we compare to benchmark methods in the weak-coupling regime, but also present results for intermediate and strong coupling. Furthermore, a two-band model with doping and a three-band Wannier model for strontium vanadate are studied. As an application of our new self-consistent DΓA, we study the effects of geometrical frustration in the kagome lattice, where we also compare our results to determinant quantum Monte Carlo.
In strongly correlated materials, quantum fluctuations taking place at the level of atomic sites play a central role. These local processes are captured nonperturbatively in dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). Nonlocal mechanisms, however, are also suspected to be essential for the proper description of some of these materials, including the well-known high-temperature cuprate superconductors and the more exotic systems of atoms adsorbed on semiconducting surfaces.In this thesis, the effect of nonlocal, potentially long-range fluctuations beyond the DMFT framework is investigated from two angles.First, long-ranged interactions in adatom systems, computed from first principles within the constrained random-phase approximation (cRPA), are treated within the extended DMFT (EDMFT) framework and its combination with the diagrammatic GW method (GW +EDMFT). They are shown to explain some material trends observed in these compounds. In addition, thanks to the spatial and temporal information delivered by GW+EDMFT, they solve existing puzzles raised by different experimental conclusions drawn from different probes.Second, a new approach to the Hubbard model including nonlocal correlation effects is proposed. Formally based on the local expansion of the triply-irreducible functional, this approach, dubbed TRILEX, approximates the renormalized three-leg electron-boson vertex by a local but frequency-dependent vertex computed from an impurity model with retarded density-density and spin-spin interactions. This local vertex is used to construct frequency- and momentum-dependent self-energies capturing nonlocal correlation effects. By construction, this method reconciles two theoretical pictures of cuprate superconductors, namely the spin fluctuation theory at weak interaction strengths and the doped-Mott-insulator picture at strong coupling.This novel approach is applied to the single-band Hubbard model. It is shown to reduce to DMFT at strong coupling and high temperatures, and to fluctuation-exchange theories at weak coupling, while substantial deviations from both limits are observed at intermediate coupling. There, upon doping, antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations are observed to lead to a momentum-differentiated spectral intensity on the Fermi surface, which is reminiscent of the formation of Fermi arcs in photoemission measurements on cuprate superconductors.These two methodological developments are intrinsically linked to algorithmic aspects which are reviewed in the last part of this work. In particular, an open-source library dedicated to massively parallel computations in the field of quantum many-body physics, TRIQS, is presented, with a focus on error estimation through the binning and jackknife methods. The hybridization-expansion continuous-time quantum Monte-Carlo algorithm in the segment picture -- central to the TRILEX method -- and its state-of-the-art implementation are explained. Finally, as a further illustration, a new lightweight method relying on this algorithm and designed for realistic systems, the combined screened-exchange and dynamical DMFT method (SEx+DDMFT), is presented together with an application to the BaCo2As2 compound.
In this thesis we consider three different models for strongly correlated electrons, namely a multi-band Hubbard model as well as the spinless Falicov-Kimball model, both with a semi-elliptical density of states in the limit of infinite dimensions d, and the attractive Hubbard model on a square lattice in d=2.\n\nIn the first part, we study a two-band Hubbard model with unequal bandwidths and anisotropic Hund's rule coupling (J_z-model) in the limit of infinite dimensions within the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). Here, the DMFT impurity problem is solved with the use of quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations. Our main result is that the J_z-model describes the occurrence of an orbital-selective Mott transition (OSMT), in contrast to earlier findings. We investigate the model with a high-precision DMFT \nalgorithm, which was developed as part of this thesis and which supplements QMC with a high-frequency expansion of the self-energy.\nThe main advantage of this scheme is the extraordinary accuracy of the numerical solutions, which can be obtained already with moderate computational effort, so that studies of multi-orbital systems within the DMFT+QMC are strongly improved. We also found that a suitably defined\nFalicov-Kimball (FK) model exhibits an OSMT, revealing the close connection of the Falicov-Kimball physics to the J_z-model in the OSM phase.\n\nIn the second part of this thesis we study the attractive Hubbard model in two spatial dimensions within second-order self-consistent perturbation theory.\nThis model is considered on a square lattice at finite doping and at low temperatures. Our main result is that the predictions of first-order perturbation theory (Hartree-Fock approximation) are renormalized by a factor of the order of unity even at arbitrarily weak interaction (U->0). The \nrenormalization factor q can be evaluated as a function of the filling n for 0<n<1. In the limit n->0, the q-factor vanishes, signaling the divergence of self-consistent perturbation theory in this limit. Thus we present the first asymptotically exact results at weak-coupling for the negative-U Hubbard model in d=2 at finite doping.
We propose a dynamical mean-field approach for calculating the electronic structure of strongly correlated materials from first principles. The scheme combines the GW method with dynamical mean-field theory, which enables one to treat strong interaction effects. It avoids the conceptual problems inherent to conventional "LDA+DMFT," such as Hubbard interaction parameters and double-counting terms. We apply a simplified version of the approach to the electronic structure of nickel and find encouraging results.
Correlated electron systems exhibit a variety of intriguing emergent phenomena, including Mott physics, pseudogap behavior, and unconventional superconductivity. One of the most widely used numerical approaches for investigating these systems is dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). This dissertation addresses two related problems: how to develop better quantum impurity solvers for DMFT and how to use DMFT results to gain a better understanding of correlated electron systems. The first part of this dissertation develops numerical methods for solving quantum impurity problems, which constitute the central computational task in DMFT calculations. In Chap. 4, we develop a method that combines a tensor-train numerical integration scheme with the inchworm hybridization expansion for quantum impurity problems. Benchmarks on spinless, single-orbital, and multi-orbital impurity models demonstrate the convergence of the Green’s functions to exact or reference results and identify the regimes in which tensor-train compression of Feynman diagrams and the inchworm expansion itself are effective. In Chap. 5, we introduce the concept of counterterms within the hybridization expansion and apply it to a bare hybridization expansion solver that relies on a sum-of-exponentials integration technique. Tests on spinless, multi-orbital, and realistic embedding impurity problems show that counterterms can significantly reduce the required perturbative order and improve the efficiency of hybridization-expansion calculations. The second part of this dissertation applies the cluster extension of DMFT to the single-band Hubbard model. In Chap. 6, we introduce a fluctuation decomposition for the self-energy that eliminates the Fierz ambiguity encountered in conventional fluctuation diagnostics of the Hubbard model. The resulting analysis shows that spin fluctuations make an important contribution to the pseudogap self-energy, while multi-boson contributions are also necessary for a complete description. In Chap. 7, we analyze the spin-fermion coupling and its role in d-wave pairing. Our calculations show that, for antinodal fermions in the pseudogap regime, their coupling to antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations is strongly enhanced relative to the non-interacting limit. A modified Bethe–Salpeter equation analysis further shows that this enhanced spin–fermion coupling boosts the spin-fluctuation-induced contribution to the d-wave pairing susceptibility.
Strongly correlated electron systems host a plethora of fascinating physical phenomena and pose formidable challenges in their theoretical analysis. The challenges originate from the inherent complexity of the quantum many-body problem - no classical computer will ever be able to fully simulate these systems - and the lack of an effective single-particle picture, as the strong mutual interactions make it impossible to regard the electrons as independent from each other. As a consequence, most systems of correlated electrons can only be tackled approximately and numerically. In this thesis, we develop a set of numerical methods for strongly correlated electrons, which are inspired by the renormalization group (RG) idea of including degrees of freedom successively from high to low energies. This enables an efficient organization of the diverse fluctuations and is key for an accurate treatment of interacting quantum systems, where collective behavior and composite objects emerge at energy scales far below those of the microscopic constituents. In a first part, we consider the functional renormalization group (fRG), a versatile framework to study the flow of correlation functions upon modulating the underlying action. Though widely used, it has often acted more as a qualitative rather than quantitative method, due a nontransparent approximation induced by truncating the hierarchy of flow equations. We develop an iterative multiloop fRG (mfRG) scheme, which ameliorates this approximation and eliminates many of the drawbacks of fRG experienced hitherto. In particular, it restores the independence of results on the choice of RG regulator and establishes a rigorous relation to the parquet formalism. Furthermore, we show how to derive the flow equations directly from self-consistent many-body relations. This establishes a form of diagrammatic resummations at the two-particle level which circumvents ill-behaved two-particle-irreducible vertices. An application to the prototypical two-dimensional Hubbard model illustrates how our multiloop scheme elevates the fRG approach to correlated electron systems to a quantitative level. Secondly, we employ the numerical renormalization group (NRG), based on the iterative diagonalization of impurity Hamiltonians, in conjunction with the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) to describe local correlations in multiorbital systems. Having access to arbitrarily low temperatures and energies, NRG is a unique, real-frequency impurity solver for DMFT. It has been pivotal to the understanding of Hund metals, where strong correlations arise from Hund's rules even at moderate Coulomb repulsion. Building on recent methodological advances, we extend the range of application of DMFT+NRG from orbital-degenerate models to more realistic setups: We first study orbital differentiation in a three-orbital Hund-metal model and unravel key effects of the orbital-selective Mott transition. In a real-materials setting, we then incorporate the bandstructure from density functional theory (DFT) and analyze the archetypal Hund-metal material Sr2RuO4. We particularly follow its RG flow to the Fermi-liquid regime at previously inaccessible low temperatures and generally present DFT+DMFT+NRG as a new computational paradigm for strongly correlated materials. As a side project of our fRG work, we develop an algorithm to count Feynman diagrams from closed many-body relations, which reveals the surprising outcome that totally irreducible contributions are responsible for the factorial growth in the number of diagrams. Additionally, we use NRG to study transport through three-level quantum dots and provide benchmark data for other RG methods, which aim at further describing these systems in nonequilibrium.