We investigate several approximations for self-bound many-fermion systems, each of which employs the Green's-function formalism together with a suitable factorization to close the otherwise infinite hierarchy of coupled integral equations. The particular approximations, which attempt to include the important two-body correlations for short-range forces, differ in the choice of propagator $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ for two-particle intermediate states in the
T matrix used to calculate the two-body correlation function. The advantages and shortcomings of the choice ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{00}\ensuremath{\sim}{{G}_{1}}^{0}{{G}_{1}}^{0}$ have been noted previously and are not treated here. We show that the choice ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{10}\ensuremath{\sim}{{G}_{1}}^{0}{G}_{1}$, which appears in a "natural" factorization, is formulated in a manner which preserves much of the simplicity of the ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{00}$ approximation. (Numerical calculations using the ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{10}$ approximation are presented by Foster in the following paper.) The ground-state energies for three $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ approximations (${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{00}$, ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{10}$, and ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{11}\ensuremath{\sim}{G}_{1}{G}_{1}$) are expanded through third order in the interaction strength to facilitate comparison with each other and with the Brueckner-Goldstone series. Numerical comparison of these third-order contributions for a square-well potential is presented. ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{10}$ is in dramatically closer agreement with the full perturbation theory (for ${{k}_{F}}^{0}c\ensuremath{\lesssim}1$) than are the other $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ approximations or Brueckner theory.
The ground-state wave function and energy of a finite system of interacting fermions are expanded in terms of multiple-particle excitations on an uncorrelated zero-order state. The resulting set of coupled equations constitutes a systematic variational generalization of Hartree-Fock theory. Comparison is made with many-body perturbation theory and it is shown that to any order the theory incorporates an infinite number of perturbation theory terms. Solutions of the equations for ground-state atomic systems are discussed and related to previous work using many-body perturbation theory. It is shown that the sums of perturbation terms necessary for convergence are automatically included in the equations for two-particle excitations. Application of the equations to open-shell atoms is described.
An extension of the time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory (ETDHFB) which includes higher-order effects such as screening of the pairing correlation is proposed. ETDHFB is applied to a pairing model and a fermion system trapped in a harmonic potential to test its feasibility by comparison with exact solutions. With the use of perturbative expressions for the pairing tensor and the two-body density matrix derived from ETDHFB, the screening effect is investigated for atomic fermion systems and isotopes of tin nuclei. It is found that the screening effect on the pairing correlation is not significant.