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Many-body quantum dynamics by the TDDFT-based theory of the reduced density matrix

V. U. Nazarov

Published Sep 11, 2018• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We introduce a method of evaluating the density matrix of an arbitrary quantum mechanical system in terms of the quantities pertinent to the solution of the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) problem. Our theory utilizes the adiabatic connection perturbation method [G\{o}rling and Levy, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 50}, 196 (1994), G\{o}rling, ibid. {\bf 55}, 2630 (1997)], from which the expansion of the density matrix in powers of the interaction constant $\lambda$ naturally arises. By this, we obtain the one-density-matrix $\rho_\lambda(\rv,\rv',t)$, which, by construction, has the $\lambda$-independent diagonal elements $\rho_\lambda(\rv,\rv,t)=n(\rv,t)$, where $n(\rv,t)$ is the particle density. The off-diagonal elements of $\rho_\lambda(\rv,\rv',t)$ importantly contribute to the processes beyond the reach of TDDFT, of which we consider the momentum-resolved photoemission, doing this to the first order in $\lambda$ (exact exchange). In an illustrative calculation of photoemission from the quasi-2D electron gas with {\it one filled subband} we find strong deviations from the independent-particle Fermi golden rule formula.

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Many-Body Quantum Dynamics by the Reduced Density Matrix Based on Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory

V. U. Nazarov

We evaluate the density matrix of an arbitrary quantum mechanical system in terms of the quantities pertinent to the solution of the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) problem. Our theory utilizes the adiabatic connection perturbation method of G\"orling and Levy, from which the expansion of the many-body density matrix in powers of the coupling constant $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ naturally arises. We then find the reduced density matrix ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}(\mathbf{r},{\mathbf{r}}^{\ensuremath{'}},t)$, which, by construction, has the $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ independent diagonal elements ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}(\mathbf{r},\mathbf{r},t)=n(\mathbf{r},t)$, $n(\mathbf{r},t)$ being the particle density. The off-diagonal elements of ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}(\mathbf{r},{\mathbf{r}}^{\ensuremath{'}},t)$ contribute importantly to the processes unaccessible via the density, directly or by the use of the known TDDFT functionals. Of those, we consider the momentum-resolved photoemission, doing this to the first order in $\ensuremath{\lambda}$, i.e., on the level of the exact exchange theory. In illustrative calculations of photoemission from the quasi-2D electron gas and isolated atoms, we find quantitatively strong and conceptually far-reaching differences with the independent-particle Fermi's golden rule formula.

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Time-Dependent Quantum Many-Body Systems: Linear Response, Electronic Transport, and Reduced Density Matrices

Heiko Appel

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) provides a successful approach to calculate excitation energies of atomic and molecular systems. In part I of this work we present a double-pole approximation (DPA) to the response equations of TDDFT. The double-pole approximation provides an exact description of systems with two strongly coupled excitations which are isolated from the rest of the spectrum. In contrast to the traditional single- pole approximation of TDDFT the DPA also yields corrections to the Kohn-Sham oscillator strengths. Several critical pole separations can be identified, e.g. we find that the pole coupling can cause transitions to vanish entirely from the optical spectrum. We also demonstrate how to invert the double-pole solution which allows us to predict matrix elements of the exchange- correlation kernel fxc from experimental input. This can serve as benchmark for the construction of future approximations for the kernel fxc. Reduced density matrix functional theory (RDMFT) has emerged recently as promising candidate to treat strongly correlated electronic many-body systems beyond traditional density functional theory (DFT). The research within RDMFT was so far focussed on the static theory. In this work we attempt some first steps towards a time-dependent generalization of RDMFT. In part II we derive equations of motion for natural orbitals and occupation numbers. Using the equation of motion for the occupation numbers we show that an adiabatic extension of presently known ground-state functionals of static RDMFT always leads to occupation numbers which are constant in time. From the stationary conditions of the equations of motion for the N-body correlations (correlated parts of the N-body matrices) we derive a new class of ground-state functionals which can be used in static RDMFT. Applications are presented for a one-dimensional model system where the time-dependent many-body Schrödinger equation can be propagated numerically. We use optimal control theory to find optimized laser pulses for transitions in a model for atomic Helium. From the numerically exact correlated wavefunction we extract the exact time evolution of natural orbitals and occupation numbers for (i) laser-driven Helium and (ii) electron-ion scattering. Part III of this work considers time-dependent quantum transport within TDDFT. We present an algorithm for the calculation of extended eigenstates of single- particle Hamiltonians which is especially tailored to a finite-difference discretization of the Schrödinger equation. We consider the propagation of finite mesoscopic systems and demonstrate the limitations of such an approach. To overcome the shortcomings of a description of quantum transport in terms of finite systems we develop a time-propagation scheme for extended states which utilizes a mixed basis representation. Our discretization scheme allows to treat central device and lead regions on the same footing thus preventing artificial reflections at grid boundaries.

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Time-dependent density-functional theory for extended systems

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For the calculation of neutral excitations, time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is an exact reformulation of the many-body time-dependent Schrödinger equation, based on knowledge of the density instead of the many-body wavefunction. The density can be determined in an efficient scheme by solving one-particle non-interacting Schrödinger equations—the Kohn–Sham equations. The complication of the problem is hidden in the—unknown—time-dependent exchange and correlation potential that appears in the Kohn–Sham equations and for which it is essential to find good approximations. Many approximations have been suggested and tested for finite systems, where even the very simple adiabatic local-density approximation (ALDA) has often proved to be successful. In the case of solids, ALDA fails to reproduce optical absorption spectra, which are instead well described by solving the Bethe–Salpeter equation of many-body perturbation theory (MBPT). On the other hand, ALDA can lead to excellent results for loss functions (at vanishing and finite momentum transfer). In view of this and thanks to recent successful developments of improved linear-response kernels derived from MBPT, TDDFT is today considered a promising alternative to MBPT for the calculation of electronic spectra, even for solids. After reviewing the fundamentals of TDDFT within linear response, we discuss different approaches and a variety of applications to extended systems.

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Developments in many-body theory of quantum transport and spectroscopy with non-equilibrium Green's functions and time-dependent density functional theory

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The problem of quantum dynamics in open systems has gained attention in recent decades and not the least due to the advances made in quantum transport in molecular systems. The main motivation behind quantum transport and molecular electronics is the futuristic goal to be able at some point to replace, or to complement, the silicon-based technology and to make the electronic devices faster. On a fundamental level, one has to deal with time-dependent processes where electron-electron or electron- phonon interactions are of great importance, and they can cause profound quantitative and qualitative changes on the physical and dynamical properties of electronic systems compared to the non-interacting case. Most of the studies of quantum transport have been focused on the steady-state description while neglecting the short-time dynamics. However, the dynamical effects are of great importance since fast- switching processes play a pivotal role in the operation of future devices. We studied the problem of time-dependent electron transport through the Anderson impurity model by using many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) together with Keldysh Green’s functions as well as with time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). These methods were compared with numerically exact time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group (tDMRG) method. We found that the many-body perturbation theory results beyond Hartree-Fock approximation were in close agreement with tDMRG results. In addition we studied the possibility of multistablity in the density and current of an interacting nanoscale junction as well as how to reversibly switch between the multiple solutions in time domain. An accurate theoretical treatment of electron correlation even in as simple model as an interacting electron gas at metallic densities still continues to be a challenge; especially description of features in the photoemission spectra due to electron correlations provides a theoretical challenge. The many-body perturbation theory yields a systematic way to study electron-electron (electron-phonon) correlations in various systems. One of the widely used approximations in MBPT is the GW approximation in which the bare interaction line is replaced with screened interaction line in the first order exchange diagram. The GW approximation gives good estimates for the band gap values close to experimental ones but especially the self-consistent GW approximation has a number of deficiencies like washing out of plasmon features and overestimation of bandwidths compared to experiment. One way to improve GW calculations is to include vertex corrections. Unfortunately, the straightforward inclusion of vertex corrections yields negative spectra in some frequency regions. We developed a diagrammatic approach to construct self-energy approximations with positive spectral properties. Our approach consists of expressing a self-energy of response diagram as a product of half-diagrams after which a minimal set of additional diagrams is identified to construct a perfect square. We applied this method to study vertex corrections in a homogeneous electron gas. In addition we analyzed the diagrammatic content of photocurrent with density functional theory. The expression for the photocurrent was obtained as an integral over the Kohn-Sham spectral function renormalized by effective potentials that depend on the exchange correlation kernel of current density functional theory. The expression for the photocurrent gives us the angular dependence of the photocurrent but it does not provide a direct access to the kinetic energy distribution of the photoelectrons.

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Wei Li, Gao Xianlong, Corinna Kollath +1 more

Time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) is a powerful tool in studying the nonequilibrium dynamics of inhomogeneous interacting many-body systems. Here we show that the simple adiabatic local-spin-density approximation for the time-dependent exchange-correlation potential is surprisingly accurate in describing collective density and spin dynamics in strongly correlated one-dimensional ultracold Fermi gases. Our conclusions are based on extensive comparisons between our TDDFT results and accurate results based on the adaptive time-dependent density-matrix renormalization-group method.

arXiv:0805.4743•Physical Review B•Nov 11, 2008•29 citations
We introduce a method of evaluating the density matrix of an arbitrary quantum mechanical system in terms of the quantities pertinent to the solution of the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) problem. Our theory utilizes the adiabatic connection perturbation method [G{o}rling and Levy, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 50}, 196 (1994), G{o}rling, ibid. {\bf 55}, 2630 (1997)], from which the expansion of the density matrix in powers of the interaction constant λ\lambdaλ naturally arises. By this, we obtain the one-density-matrix ρλ(\rv,\rv′,t)\rho_\lambda(\rv,\rv',t)ρλ​(\rv,\rv′,t), which, by construction, has the λ\lambdaλ-independent diagonal elements ρλ(\rv,\rv,t)=n(\rv,t)\rho_\lambda(\rv,\rv,t)=n(\rv,t)ρλ​(\rv,\rv,t)=n(\rv,t), where n(\rv,t)n(\rv,t)n(\rv,t) is the particle density. The off-diagonal elements of ρλ(\rv,\rv′,t)\rho_\lambda(\rv,\rv',t)ρλ​(\rv,\rv′,t) importantly contribute to the processes beyond the reach of TDDFT, of which we consider the momentum-resolved photoemission, doing this to the first order in λ\lambdaλ (exact exchange). In an illustrative calculation of photoemission from the quasi-2D electron gas with {\it one filled subband} we find strong deviations from the independent-particle Fermi golden rule formula.
We evaluate the density matrix of an arbitrary quantum mechanical system in terms of the quantities pertinent to the solution of the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) problem. Our theory utilizes the adiabatic connection perturbation method of G\"orling and Levy, from which the expansion of the many-body density matrix in powers of the coupling constant $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ naturally arises. We then find the reduced density matrix ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}(\mathbf{r},{\mathbf{r}}^{\ensuremath{'}},t)$, which, by construction, has the $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ independent diagonal elements ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}(\mathbf{r},\mathbf{r},t)=n(\mathbf{r},t)$, n(r,t)n(\mathbf{r},t)n(r,t) being the particle density. The off-diagonal elements of ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}(\mathbf{r},{\mathbf{r}}^{\ensuremath{'}},t)$ contribute importantly to the processes unaccessible via the density, directly or by the use of the known TDDFT functionals. Of those, we consider the momentum-resolved photoemission, doing this to the first order in $\ensuremath{\lambda}$, i.e., on the level of the exact exchange theory. In illustrative calculations of photoemission from the quasi-2D electron gas and isolated atoms, we find quantitatively strong and conceptually far-reaching differences with the independent-particle Fermi's golden rule formula.
Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) provides a successful approach to calculate excitation energies of atomic and molecular systems. In part I of this work we present a double-pole approximation (DPA) to the response equations of TDDFT. The double-pole approximation provides an exact description of systems with two strongly coupled excitations which are isolated from the rest of the spectrum. In contrast to the traditional single- pole approximation of TDDFT the DPA also yields corrections to the Kohn-Sham oscillator strengths. Several critical pole separations can be identified, e.g. we find that the pole coupling can cause transitions to vanish entirely from the optical spectrum. We also demonstrate how to invert the double-pole solution which allows us to predict matrix elements of the exchange- correlation kernel fxc from experimental input. This can serve as benchmark for the construction of future approximations for the kernel fxc. Reduced density matrix functional theory (RDMFT) has emerged recently as promising candidate to treat strongly correlated electronic many-body systems beyond traditional density functional theory (DFT). The research within RDMFT was so far focussed on the static theory. In this work we attempt some first steps towards a time-dependent generalization of RDMFT. In part II we derive equations of motion for natural orbitals and occupation numbers. Using the equation of motion for the occupation numbers we show that an adiabatic extension of presently known ground-state functionals of static RDMFT always leads to occupation numbers which are constant in time. From the stationary conditions of the equations of motion for the N-body correlations (correlated parts of the N-body matrices) we derive a new class of ground-state functionals which can be used in static RDMFT. Applications are presented for a one-dimensional model system where the time-dependent many-body Schrödinger equation can be propagated numerically. We use optimal control theory to find optimized laser pulses for transitions in a model for atomic Helium. From the numerically exact correlated wavefunction we extract the exact time evolution of natural orbitals and occupation numbers for (i) laser-driven Helium and (ii) electron-ion scattering. Part III of this work considers time-dependent quantum transport within TDDFT. We present an algorithm for the calculation of extended eigenstates of single- particle Hamiltonians which is especially tailored to a finite-difference discretization of the Schrödinger equation. We consider the propagation of finite mesoscopic systems and demonstrate the limitations of such an approach. To overcome the shortcomings of a description of quantum transport in terms of finite systems we develop a time-propagation scheme for extended states which utilizes a mixed basis representation. Our discretization scheme allows to treat central device and lead regions on the same footing thus preventing artificial reflections at grid boundaries.
For the calculation of neutral excitations, time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is an exact reformulation of the many-body time-dependent Schrödinger equation, based on knowledge of the density instead of the many-body wavefunction. The density can be determined in an efficient scheme by solving one-particle non-interacting Schrödinger equations—the Kohn–Sham equations. The complication of the problem is hidden in the—unknown—time-dependent exchange and correlation potential that appears in the Kohn–Sham equations and for which it is essential to find good approximations. Many approximations have been suggested and tested for finite systems, where even the very simple adiabatic local-density approximation (ALDA) has often proved to be successful. In the case of solids, ALDA fails to reproduce optical absorption spectra, which are instead well described by solving the Bethe–Salpeter equation of many-body perturbation theory (MBPT). On the other hand, ALDA can lead to excellent results for loss functions (at vanishing and finite momentum transfer). In view of this and thanks to recent successful developments of improved linear-response kernels derived from MBPT, TDDFT is today considered a promising alternative to MBPT for the calculation of electronic spectra, even for solids. After reviewing the fundamentals of TDDFT within linear response, we discuss different approaches and a variety of applications to extended systems.
A decomposition of the exact exchange-correlation potential of time-dependent density functional theory into an interaction component and a kinetic component offers a new starting point for non-adiabatic approximations. The components are expressed in terms of the exchange-correlation hole and the difference between the one-body density matrix of the interacting and Kohn-Sham systems, which must be approximated in terms of quantities accessible from the Kohn-Sham evolution. We explore several preliminary approximations, evaluate their fulfillment of known exact conditions, and test their performance on simple model systems for which available exact solutions indicate the significance of going beyond the adiabatic approximation.
The problem of quantum dynamics in open systems has gained attention in recent decades and not the least due to the advances made in quantum transport in molecular systems. The main motivation behind quantum transport and molecular electronics is the futuristic goal to be able at some point to replace, or to complement, the silicon-based technology and to make the electronic devices faster. On a fundamental level, one has to deal with time-dependent processes where electron-electron or electron- phonon interactions are of great importance, and they can cause profound quantitative and qualitative changes on the physical and dynamical properties of electronic systems compared to the non-interacting case. Most of the studies of quantum transport have been focused on the steady-state description while neglecting the short-time dynamics. However, the dynamical effects are of great importance since fast- switching processes play a pivotal role in the operation of future devices. We studied the problem of time-dependent electron transport through the Anderson impurity model by using many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) together with Keldysh Green’s functions as well as with time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). These methods were compared with numerically exact time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group (tDMRG) method. We found that the many-body perturbation theory results beyond Hartree-Fock approximation were in close agreement with tDMRG results. In addition we studied the possibility of multistablity in the density and current of an interacting nanoscale junction as well as how to reversibly switch between the multiple solutions in time domain. An accurate theoretical treatment of electron correlation even in as simple model as an interacting electron gas at metallic densities still continues to be a challenge; especially description of features in the photoemission spectra due to electron correlations provides a theoretical challenge. The many-body perturbation theory yields a systematic way to study electron-electron (electron-phonon) correlations in various systems. One of the widely used approximations in MBPT is the GW approximation in which the bare interaction line is replaced with screened interaction line in the first order exchange diagram. The GW approximation gives good estimates for the band gap values close to experimental ones but especially the self-consistent GW approximation has a number of deficiencies like washing out of plasmon features and overestimation of bandwidths compared to experiment. One way to improve GW calculations is to include vertex corrections. Unfortunately, the straightforward inclusion of vertex corrections yields negative spectra in some frequency regions. We developed a diagrammatic approach to construct self-energy approximations with positive spectral properties. Our approach consists of expressing a self-energy of response diagram as a product of half-diagrams after which a minimal set of additional diagrams is identified to construct a perfect square. We applied this method to study vertex corrections in a homogeneous electron gas. In addition we analyzed the diagrammatic content of photocurrent with density functional theory. The expression for the photocurrent was obtained as an integral over the Kohn-Sham spectral function renormalized by effective potentials that depend on the exchange correlation kernel of current density functional theory. The expression for the photocurrent gives us the angular dependence of the photocurrent but it does not provide a direct access to the kinetic energy distribution of the photoelectrons.
Time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) is a powerful tool in studying the nonequilibrium dynamics of inhomogeneous interacting many-body systems. Here we show that the simple adiabatic local-spin-density approximation for the time-dependent exchange-correlation potential is surprisingly accurate in describing collective density and spin dynamics in strongly correlated one-dimensional ultracold Fermi gases. Our conclusions are based on extensive comparisons between our TDDFT results and accurate results based on the adaptive time-dependent density-matrix renormalization-group method.