The self-energy method for quantum impurity models expresses the correlation part of the self-energy in terms of the ratio of two Green's functions and allows for a more accurate calculation of equilibrium spectral functions than is possible directly from the one-particle Green's function [Bulla et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 10, 8365 (1998)], for example, within the numerical renormalization group method. In addition, the self-energy itself is a central quantity required in the dynamical mean field theory of strongly correlated lattice models. Here, we show how to generalize the self-energy method to the time-dependent situation for the prototype model of strong correlations, the Anderson impurity model. We use the equation-of-motion method to obtain closed expressions for the local Green's function in terms of a time-dependent correlation self-energy, with the latter being given as a ratio of a one-particle time-dependent Green's function and a higher-order correlation function. We benchmark this self-energy approach to time-dependent spectral functions against the direct approach within the time-dependent numerical renormalization group method. The self-energy approach improves the accuracy of time-dependent spectral function calculations, and the closed-form expressions for the Green's function allow for a clear picture of the time evolution of spectral features at the different characteristic time scales. The self-energy approach is of potential interest also for other quantum impurity solvers for real-time evolution, including time-dependent density matrix renormalization group and continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo techniques.
We investigate the time evolution of the Kondo resonance in response to a quench by applying the time-dependent numerical renormalization group (TDNRG) approach to the Anderson impurity model in the strong correlation limit. For this purpose, we derive within the TDNRG approach a numerically tractable expression for the retarded two-time nonequilibrium Green function $G(t+{t}^{\ensuremath{'}},t)$, and its associated time-dependent spectral function, $A(\ensuremath{\omega},t)$, for times
t both before and after the quench. Quenches from both mixed valence and Kondo correlated initial states to Kondo correlated final states are considered. For both cases, we find that the Kondo resonance in the zero temperature spectral function, a preformed version of which is evident at very short times $t\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{0}^{+}$, only fully develops at very long times $t\ensuremath{\gtrsim}1/{T}_{K}$, where
TK is the Kondo temperature of the final state. In contrast, the final state satellite peaks develop on a fast time scale $1/\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ during the time interval $\ensuremath{-}1/\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}\ensuremath{\lesssim}t\ensuremath{\lesssim}+1/\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$, where $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ is the hybridization strength. Initial and final state spectral functions are recovered in the limits $t\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\infty}$ and $t\ensuremath{\rightarrow}+\ensuremath{\infty}$, respectively. Our formulation of two-time nonequilibrium Green functions within the TDNRG approach provides a first step towards using this method as an impurity solver within nonequilibrium dynamical mean field theory.