Since the advent of high-$T_c$ cuprate superconductors in 1986, strongly correlated electron systems have attracted much attention. Since the cuprates are essentially two-dimensional, low-dimensional systems have moved into the focus of condensed-matter theory. From a theoretical point of view, one-dimensional systems are of particular interest because there are exact numerical and analytical methods which permit detailed studies and deep insights into the many-body problem. In the first part of this thesis, using the numerically exact methods Exact Diagonalization and the Density-Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG), we investigate the properties of the Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid which is the generic metallic state of matter in one dimension. In particular, we concentrate on the investigation of the so-called Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid parameter which determines the critical exponent $\alpha$ for the density of states near the Fermi energy. Experimental results for some quasi one-dimensional materials report $\alpha \gtrsim 1$, which would imply $K_\rho \lesssim 0.17$, a value which cannot be reconciled with the bare Hubbard model where $K_\rho^H \geq 0.5$, i.e., $\alpha^H \lesssim 1/8$. We develop new accurate numerical methods to obtain $K_\rho$ and investigate how to obtain such small values for $K_\rho$ for slightly doped charge-density-wave insulators. In the second part of this thesis, using the Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz (TBA) as exact analytical method, we investigate the one-dimensional Hubbard model in the spindisordered regime, which is characterized by the temperature being much larger than the magnetic energy scale but small compared to the Mott–Hubbard gap. Our study is motivated by the controversy about the Mott–Hubbard insulator in infinite dimensions whose ground state is also spin-disordered. In this system the determination of the precise value of the critical interaction strength Uc where the Mott–Hubbard gap closes is still unsolved. Therefore, we provide an example of a Hubbard-type model with a disordered spin background which can be solved exactly. The thermodynamics of our model can be understood in terms of gapped charged excitations with an effective dispersion which are decoupled form the spin degrees of freedom; the latter contribute only entropically. An interpretation of this regime in terms of a putative interacting-electron system at zero temperature leads to a metal-insulator transition at a finite interaction strength above which the gap opens linearly. Our exact results indicate that the strong-coupling expansion of the ground-state energy cannot be used to locate $U_c$. However, the strong-coupling expansion of the gap permits a reliable extrapolation of the critical interaction strength.
Since the advent of high-Tc cuprate superconductors in 1986, strongly correlated electron systems have attracted much attention. Since the cuprates are essentially two-dimensional, low-dimensional systems have moved into the focus of condensed-matter theory. From a theoretical point of view, one-dimensional systems are of particular interest because there are exact numerical and analytical methods which permit detailed studies and deep insights into the many-body problem. In the first part of this thesis, using the numerically exact methods Exact Diagonalization and the Density-Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG), we investigate the properties of the Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid which is the generic metallic state of matter in one dimension. In particular, we concentrate on the investigation of the so-called Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid parameter which determines the critical exponent α for the density of states near the Fermi energy. Experimental results for some quasi one-dimensional materials report α≳1, which would imply Kρ≲0.17, a value which cannot be reconciled with the bare Hubbard model where KρH≥0.5, i.e., αH≲1/8. We develop new accurate numerical methods to obtain Kρ and investigate how to obtain such small values for Kρ for slightly doped charge-density-wave insulators. In the second part of this thesis, using the Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz (TBA) as exact analytical method, we investigate the one-dimensional Hubbard model in the spindisordered regime, which is characterized by the temperature being much larger than the magnetic energy scale but small compared to the Mott–Hubbard gap. Our study is motivated by the controversy about the Mott–Hubbard insulator in infinite dimensions whose ground state is also spin-disordered. In this system the determination of the precise value of the critical interaction strength Uc where the Mott–Hubbard gap closes is still unsolved. Therefore, we provide an example of a Hubbard-type model with a disordered spin background which can be solved exactly. The thermodynamics of our model can be understood in terms of gapped charged excitations with an effective dispersion which are decoupled form the spin degrees of freedom; the latter contribute only entropically. An interpretation of this regime in terms of a putative interacting-electron system at zero temperature leads to a metal-insulator transition at a finite interaction strength above which the gap opens linearly. Our exact results indicate that the strong-coupling expansion of the ground-state energy cannot be used to locate Uc. However, the strong-coupling expansion of the gap permits a reliable extrapolation of the critical interaction strength.
This dissertation discussed four low-dimensional systems: Hubbard ladder and its 2D extension, anisotropic Hubbard ladder, one-dimensional two-orbital t-J model, and Kondo model. All of them are of strongly correlated. Doped cuprates, as strongly correlated systems, have attracted a lot of attention in the condensed matter physics community, not just from the purely theoretical perspective, but also due to the novel applications beyond the conventional semiconductor paradigm. They display complicated phase diagram, defying the conventional rigid band theory, shaking our common sense and driving us to wrestle with many-body physics. With the aid of advanced experimental techniques such as ARPES, its various exotic electronic structure, such as waterfalls, hole pockets, Fermi arcs and kinks have been unveiled and remain open to interpretation. To attack such complicated problems, people usually build various models to mimic the CuO2 planes, which is the common feature of various cuprate compounds and is believed to be mainly responsible for their complicated properties, especially the high temperature superconductivity. In Chapter 3, we simulated the spectral properties of the 2- leg single-band Hubbard ladder and its 2-dimensional extension at and away from half-lling using the numerical tool: the combination of Cluster Perturbation Theory (CPT) with the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method (tDMRG) as a solver. The main features of the spectrum can be described with a mean-eld dispersion, with kinks and pseudogap traced back to scattering between spin and charge degrees of freedom. As a bonus, we nd that the spectrum of hubbard ladder involves spin-polaron, the bound state of spinon and holon. Interacting one-dimensional electron systems generically behave dierent from higher dimensional systems in the sense that its low-energy excitations are described by Luttinger liquid theory as collective bosonic modes carrying spin and charge separately, the so-called spinons and holons, rather than the coherent quasi-particles in Fermi liquid theory. This phenomenon is known as spin-charge separation, an intrinsic property of 1D system. It can be thought of as a particular case of electron fractionalization. When multiple 1D chains get coupled, how the picture changes? In Chapter 4, we study the spectral function of the anisotropic 2-leg Hubbard ladder, one of the simplest multiple-chain systems. The spectrum can be understood as the scattering resultants of spinon and holons: As the inter-chain hopping is increased, the continuum in the bonding channel moves to higher energies and spinon and holon branches merge into a single coherent quasi-particle band. Simultaneously, the spectrum undergoes a crossover from a regime with two minima at incommensurate values of kx (a Mott insulator), to one with a single minimum at kx = (a band insulator). In addition, the spectrum contains a continuum of scattering states consisting of a triplon and a polaron, accompanied by the formation of bound states with higher spin 3 2 , ferromagnetic \spin bags" in which the hole can move freely. To analyze the formation of quasi-particle, we study the time-evolution of charge and spin degrees of freedom in real space after a hole is injected, which indicates that incoherent holons and spinons can emerge into polarons, that can propagate coherently, after a characterstic time . Multiorbital systems can involve Mott and Hund physics, and are rich in various phenomena, including orbital selective Mott transitions, spin-orbital separations, and pairing density wave due to the complex interplay between spin, charge and orbital degrees of freedom. Therefore, it can capture many unique features in real strongly correlated systems, such as iron pnictides and ruthenates, and thus attract a lot of investigations. In Chapter 5, we comprehensively study a one-dimensional two-orbital model at and below quarter lling, which realizes a number of unconventional phases, by means of DMRG and some analytical calculations. In particular, we nd that the system supports an extensive density wave in which excitons quasicondense with nite center-of-mass momentum. In this phase, excitons behave as hardcore bosons without charge order. In addition, excitons can pair to form biexcitons in a state that is close to a charge density wave instability. Finally, a genuine orbital-selective paired state (metallic plus spin-gapped superconductor) can be realized when pairing dominates over the interorbital repulsion. Kondo problem, as one of the most studied and best understood correlated systems, has been studied by various techniques, but the internal structure of its ground state has two deeply con icting pictures: At strong coupling limit, the system is essentially composed of a scattering center, which is a tightly bound singlet formed by the impurity and a localized electron at r0, and the remaining conduction electrons that are decoupled to the impurity and remain almost \free". At weak enough couplings, the singlet extends to the entire volume and the impurity will couple mostly to one electron at the Fermi level. In chapter 6, we provide a coherent picture to unveil the puzzle in the context of quantum information theory by deconstructing the Kondo singlet, both in real and energy space, and measuring the spin correlations between the impurity and the invididual free electron eigenstate based on two dierent measures. As a bonus, we can identify \projected natural orbitals" that can be used as a \good" approximate wavefunctions for simulations, and a quasi-order parameter that determines the crossover from weak to strong coupling regimes and furthermore oers the means to measure the Kondo screening length K. This screening length might be used to characterize the \size" of the Kondo cloud.
The Fermi liquid theory is a central concept in modern condensed matter physics used to describe conventional metals. A state of this universality class consists of well-defined quasiparticles, which occupy a finite number of states within a Fermi volume defined in momentum space. According to the Luttinger’s theorem, such a state encloses a Fermi volume proportional to the electron density modulo the filled bands if no symmetry is broken. In the past decades strong deviations from Fermi liquid theory have been observed in the scaling behavior of thermodynamic observables in different materials, among which are for instance cuprates and iron pnictides. This thesis is about two prototypical systems that can not be described by Fermi liquid theory. The first part of this work investigates two-dimensional effective models, which are in a Mott insulating state at half-filling and have a finite conductivity when doped with holes. In such a Mott insulating state, the charge carriers are strongly localized due to the Coulomb repulsion. Hence, strong correlations are assumed to have a strong impact on the formation of the ground state, also in the regime of small hole concentration. In a first project we have used a so-called spinon dopon mean-field theory to represent the two-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model with strong on-site repulsive interaction in effective degrees of freedom, in which the holes can be embedded into a quantum spin liquid. The corresponding SU(2) invariant ground state belongs to the class of fractionalized Fermi liquids. In a second project we investigate a quantum dimer model, an effective model based on a Hilbert space spanned by short range singlets and bound states of holes and spins. The focus here is on the calculation of the hole-part of the electron spectral function by using exact diagonalization and its comparison with two analytic methods, a diagrammatic computation based on the Bethe-Salpeter equation and a so-called two-mode approximation. The electron spectral function shows a similar analytic form in momentum space between nodal and antinodal point when compared to results from photoemission spectroscopy experiments on cuprates. Furthermore, in a subsequent work we calculate the exact ground state of the quantum dimer model along a certain parameter line. In order to analyze the behavior of the elctron spectral function when increasing the density of holes, we investigate the Fermi-Hubbard model in a current project using a dynamical mean-field approach. To solve the 4-site cluster impurity problem, we use a numerical renormalization group approach. However, numerical limitations force us to restrict the analysis to spin-polarized baths. According to the spectral data, the system is similar to the SU(2) invariant case at half-filling in a Mott insulating state and posseses a momentum-selective energy gap at finite doping. The topology of the Fermi surface shows a Lifshitz transition when increasing the hole concentration. Here, the curvature of the Fermi surface changes from electron- to hole-like. For comparison we apply the dynamical mean-field theory also to the quantum dimer model and observe that the electron spectral functions at finite doping are qualitatively similar to that of the two-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model. The second half of the work is about Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory, which is used to describe the low-energy effective degrees of freedom of one-dimensional systems. Here, we first discuss a conceptional extension of the operator-based bosonization theory for one-dimensional systems. This extension is especially suited for inhomogeneous one-dimensional systems. First, we investigate a one-dimensional system with a local interation potential and compute an exact solution of the single particle propagator at T = 0. The critical exponent of the single particle propagator has an unconventional form as a function of the microscopic Tomonaga-Luttinger parameters, which is not covered by the original Luttinger paradigm postulated by F. Duncan M. Haldane. In a second project on one-dimensional systems, we study the impact of scattering processes among bosonic low-energy excitations on the thermalization process. Such scattering processes are irrelevant on large length scales, however strongly affect the dynamics. In our analytic analysis we focus on a experimental setup, where a one-dimensional Bose gas is instantaneously splitted in two identical, however strongly correlated, halves of one-dimensional electronic systems. In the following, the corresponding non-equilibrium state runs through multiple regimes in time, such as a metastable prethermalization regime. However, above a certain threshold in time such scattering processes cause an effective thermalization of the system. In order to demonstrate this, we compute the kinetic equation in the Keldysh field integral formalism from a diagrammatic expansion based on a self-consistent Born approximation.
This PhD thesis is concerned with the investigation of Extended Hubbard Models on one-dimensional lattices (chains); the approach used to such investigation is that of determining exact results. The extended Hubbard models are models of correlated electrons on lattices; they are the extensions of a model proposed by Hubbard in \\cite{HUB} to explain the metal-insulator transition in d-transition compounds as the effect of electronic correlations, usually neglected in band theories. Later on, a need for extensions of such model was first felt within the context of high-temperature superconductivity; indeed, the different behaviour of doped cuprates with respect to conventional superconductors suggested that a microscopic theory of this phenomenon could be formulated in terms of electron-electron interaction, without explicitly invoking the phonon coupling, like in BCS theory. Although an exhaustive microscopic formulation for cuprate superconductivity has not been achieved yet, the Extended Hubbard Models have been in the meanwhile applied to other problems in condensed matter; they are actually considered the reference paradigm for treating all those systems in which electronic correlations cannot be neglected. \\\\As observed above, this thesis focuses in particular on 1-D chains: indeed in last years the progress in technological synthesization and small-scale observations has shown that there are many classes of materials exhibiting a strong one-dimensional character, such as organic (super)conductors, linear-chain polymers, quantum wires, quantum-dot chains, one-dimensional cuprates. Many experimental results confirm that such materials exhibit a quite rich behaviour, with different phases, charge-spin separation, as well as a strong electronic correlations. However, a sufficient understanding of these phenomena on a theoretical point of view has not been reached yet. This is due to the fact the usual theoretical methods can be shown to fail in D=1, and theoreticians are thus forced to develop new schemes for approaching the problem of many interacting fermions in such dimension. The latter therefore represents a fascinating challenge. Some progress has been made and many aspects are nowadays more clear; nevertheless, due to the lack of traditional techniques, the need for a comparison with exact results is perhaps more urgent in D=1 than in higher dimensions. The aim of this thesis is to provide some results to the research in this field. The present work is organized as follows: the two first chapters are introductory, while chapters 3 and 4 mostly contain the author's original contribution. More explicitly, {\\bf chapter 1} is an introduction to the Hubbard models (both the ordinary and the Extended) and is meant for the reader who is non-familiar with these models. We tried to emphasize the motivation that historically led to their introduction and the physical contexts in which they are applied, not necessarily in one-dimension. \\\\{\\bf Chapter 2} is instead devoted to general problematics of one dimensional physics. We have tried to stress that there is a number of physically interesting materials that can be regarded as actual 1-D systems; we give a brief account of the difficulties leading the usual theoretical approaches, such as mean-field and Fermi Liquid, to fail in D=1. While briefly describing the important results of the proposed alternative formulations (Luttinger Liquid, Renormalization Group), we also point out the points that are still unsatisfactory, and emphasize the importance that exactly integrable models have in this field. \\\\Matching the subjects of chapter 1 and 2, the subsequent ones contain the results of our investigation of exactly solvable Extended Hubbard model on 1-D chains. \\\\We wish to emphasize to the reader non familiar with integrable systems that the literature on this subject is often strongly concerned with the mathematical aspects of the involved methods, leaving the determination of the physical features of the derived integrable models as a secondary issue. On the contrary, we believe that both aspects of the research deserve a relevant role in the study. For these reasons, while chapter 3 contains new results about the general formulation of integrability for fermionic systems, chapter 4 is devoted to the investigation of the physical features for some models whose integrability has been proved in the previous chapter. \\\\More explicitly, in {\\bf chapter 3} (apart from a preliminary introduction of sec.3.1) the theory of integrable {\\it fermionic} systems has been developed within the frame of the Quantum Inverse Scattering Method (QISM). The latter is a technique for obtaining integrable models, traditionally formulated with success for spin systems; its more recent application to electron systems was leaving many unsatisfactory aspects. To overcome this weaknesses, in sec.3.2 we both clarify the theory of matrix representation for fermionic operators, and describe a method for obtaining integrable models of fermions (straightforwardly readable in terms of fermion operators), starting from the the solutions of a mathbbC-number equation (known as Yang-Baxter Equation). In sec.3.3 we first work out a general method of search for solutions of such equation; secondly we explicitly find 96 solutions, corresponding to 96 integrable Extended Hubbard models (most of which are new) for which a set of mutually commuting operators is proved to exist. In sec.3.4 we formulate a general theorem concerning the symmetries of the integrable models in QISM, and widely discuss the symmetries and supersymmetries for the class of extended Hubbard Models.\\\\ {\\bf Chapter 4} is devoted to the investigation of the physical properties of the integrable Extended Hubbard models found in chapter 3. We introduce a technique, called Sutherland's species technique, that, when applicable, yields an effective reduction of the Hilbert space and considerably simplifies the problem of diagonalizing the Hamiltonian. In fact, such technique is proved to be applicable to all the 96 models found above, and is used to determine the exact ground state phase diagram and the thermodynamics of the models. In particular we both recover in a quite straightforward way the phase diagram of a known model, and that of two new models (Model 2 and Model 3) that were not known before. \\\\The phase diagram exhibit structured forms with respect to the filling (density of electrons) and the on-site Coulomb repulsion (U); the pressure and the compressibility in the ground state are also calculated. Model 2 exhibits a superconducting phase particularly enhanced towards positive values of U, as well as a band-controlled insulator-superconductor transition at half filling; model 3 is the first example of exactly solved model with an asymmetric shape with respect to half-filling, due to the absence of particle-hole invariance of the Hamiltonian; a filling controlled metal-insulator transition is found to occur for this model. Generalizations to the other cases are also discussed. \\\\As to the thermodynamics, we compute the exact partition function of Model 3, which we believe to be particular worth of interest due to the above asymmetry. We then derive the exact specific heat of the model as a function of the temperature, which exhibits an interesting two-peak behaviour as well as a nearly universal crossing point. These results are discussed and compared with similar ones present in the literature. The chapters are of course linked each to another according to the above scheme; nevertheless, it has been a purpose of the author to make them as independently readable as possible. In particular, the reader who is more interested in the physical aspects of the models rather than in the general formalism of fermionic QISM can skip chapter 3 (at least in a first-sight reading) and pass directly to chapter 4; apart from some references to previous formulas the understanding should not be affected.\\\\{\\it \\noindent \\underline{Notational Remark:}} The customary symbol to denote the electron filling is n; this has in fact been used throughout the two first introductory chapters. Nevertheless, in order to avoid possible misunderstanding with other extensive quantities, in chapter 3~and~4~the~symbol~has been changed into rho
The Tomonaga-Luttinger parameter K ρ determines the critical behavior in quasi–one-dimensional correlated electron systems, e.g. , the exponent α for the density of states near the Fermi energy. We use the numerical density-matrix renormalization group method to calculate K ρ from the slope of the density-density correlation function in momentum space at zero wave vector. We check the accuracy of our new approach against exact results for the Hubbard and XXZ Heisenberg models. We determine K ρ in the phase diagram of the extended Hubbard model at quarter filling, n c = 1/2, and confirm the bosonization results K ρ = n c 2 = 1/4 on the critical line and K ρ CDW = n c 2 /2 = 1/8 at infinitesimal doping of the charge-density-wave (CDW) insulator for all interaction strengths. The doped CDW insulator exhibits exponents α > 1 only for small doping and strong correlations.
Abstract We present analytical results of the fundamental properties of the one-dimensional (1D) Hubbard model with a repulsive interaction. The new model results with arbitrary external fields include: (I) using the exact solutions of the Bethe ansatz equations of the Hubbard model, we first rigorously calculate the gapless spin and charge excitations, exhibiting exotic features of fractionalized spinons and holons. We then investigate the gapped excitations in terms of the spin string and the k − Λ string bound states at arbitrary driving fields, showing subtle differences in spin magnons and charge η -pair excitations. (II) For a high-density and high spin magnetization region, i.e. near the quadruple critical point, we further analytically obtain the thermodynamic properties, dimensionless ratios and scaling functions near quantum phase transitions. (III) Importantly, we give the general scaling functions at quantum criticality for arbitrary filling and interaction strength. These can directly apply to other integrable models. (IV) Based on the fractional excitations and the scaling laws, the spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid (SILL) with only the charge propagation mode is elucidated by the asymptotic of the two-point correlation functions with the help of conformal field theory. We also, for the first time, obtain the analytical results of the thermodynamics for the SILL. (V) Finally, to capture deeper insights into the Mott insulator and interaction-driven criticality, we further study the double occupancy and propose its associated contact and contact susceptibilities, through which an adiabatic cooling scheme based upon quantum criticality is proposed. In this scenario, we build up general relations among arbitrary external- and internal-potential-driven quantum phase transitions, providing a comprehensive understanding of quantum criticality. Our methods offer rich perspectives of quantum integrability and offer promising guidance for future experiments with interacting electrons and ultracold atoms, both with and without a lattice.
We apply the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method to a one-dimensional Hubbard model that lacks Umklapp scattering and thus provides an ideal case to study the Mott-Hubbard transition analytically and numerically. The model has a linear dispersion and displays a metal-to-insulator transition when the Hubbard interaction U equals the bandwidth Uc=W, where the single-particle gap opens linearly, $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}(U\ensuremath{\ge}W)=U\ensuremath{-}W$. The simple nature of the elementary excitations permits us to determine numerically with high accuracy the critical interaction strength and the gap function in the thermodynamic limit. The jump discontinuity of the momentum distribution nk at the Fermi wave number kF=0 cannot be used to locate accurately Uc from finite-size systems. However, the slope of nk at the band edges ${k}_{\mathrm{B}}=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\ensuremath{\pi}$, reveals the formation of a single-particle bound state which can be used to determine Uc reliably from nk using accurate finite-size data.