Independent Operators for Interacting Electrons

Alexander Godunov, James H. McGuire

We propose an independent time approximation (ITA), defined by simplifying the chronological operator, namely, TTunc, where Tunc is the uncorrelated limit of the chronological operator T. The concept of the time correlation is analogous to spatial electron correlation. In both cases `correlation' is the difference between an exact result and an uncorrelated limit. In the uncorrelated ITA the time correlation operator Tcor = T-Tunc is neglected and causality between electrons is lost. In second-order calculations of a two-electron transition the ITA reduces computer time by over two orders of magnitude. Greater savings are expected when higher orders or more electrons are included.

Eduardo C. Marino

ROBERT K. NESBET

An operator A† that satisfies [H, A†] = h/ωA† converts a stationary-state eigenfunction of the Hamiltonian H into another eigenfunction with energy eigenvalue increased by h/ω. Such operators describe collective excitations of many-particle systems, and their properties can be used to construct an intrinsic Hamiltonian that is dynamically independent of the collective degrees of freedom, without introducing subsidiary conditions. The procedure developed by Lipkin, valid when h/ω is real and positive, is extended to make possible the construction of an intrinsic Hamiltonian when h/ω vanishes and A† is Hermitian, and also when h/ω is complex. The nuclear cranking model is shown to be a special case of the proposed general method for vanishing h/ω in which effective moments of inertia occur as eigenvalues of linear equations. Several examples are worked out in detail, all dealing with an interacting phonon-electron system in the random-phase approximation. Results derived are the explicit screened Coulomb interaction resulting from electronic plasma excitations, a verification of the renormalized phonon frequency spectrum and phonon-electron interaction derived in the adiabatic approximation, and the resulting screened Coulomb and phonon-induced electronic interactions obtained when plasma and phonon excitations are treated simultaneously.

Richard M. Martin, Lucia Reining, David M. Ceperley

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. Henry David Thoreau Summary The essence of a mean-field method is to replace an interacting many-body problem with a set of independent-particle problems having an effective potential. It can be chosen either as an approximation for effects of interactions in an average sense or as an auxiliary system that can reproduce selected properties of an interacting system. The effective potential can have an explicit dependence on an order parameter for a system with a broken symmetry such as a ferro- or antiferromagnet. Mean-field techniques are vital parts of many-body theory: the starting points for practical many-body calculations and often the basis for interpreting the results. This chapter provides a summary of the Hartree–Fock approximation, the Weiss mean field, and density functional theory that have significant roles in the methods described in this book. Mean-field methods denote approaches in which the interacting many-body system is treated as a set of non-interacting particles in a self-consistent field that takes into account some effects of interactions in some way. In the literature such methods are often called “one-electron”; however, in this book we use “non-interacting” or “independent-particle” to refer to mean-field concepts and approaches. We reserve the terms “one-electron” or “one-body” to denote quantities that involve quantum mechanical operators acting independently on each body in a many-body system. Mean-field approaches are relevant for the study of interacting, correlated electrons because they lead to approximate formulations that can be solved more easily than more sophisticated approaches; when judiciously chosen, mean-field solutions can yield useful, physically meaningful results, and they can provide the basis and conceptual structure for investigating the effects of correlation. The particles that are the “bodies” in a many-body theory can be the original particles with their bare masses and interactions, or, most often, they may be the solutions of a set of mean-field equations chosen to facilitate the solution of the many-body problem. A large part of many-body theory in condensed matter involves the choice of the most appropriate independent particles. Hence, it is essential to define clearly the particles that are created and annihilated by the operators and in which the many-body theory is formulated.

V. D. Shirokikh