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CRC Press eBooks

Path Integral for Fermions

Luca Salasnich

Published Oct 6, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this chapter we consider the quantum statistical mechanics of identical nonrelativistic fermions by introducing the formalism of functional integration for the fermionic field. We then derive the equation of state of non-interacting and weakly-interacting repulsive fermions. We also discuss the pairing of electrons within the mean-field Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory of low-temperature superconductivity and the Ginzburg-Landau theory, which is quite successful near the critical temperature. Finally, we analyze the BCS-BEC crossover that was experimentally achieved with ultracold fermionic atoms twenty years ago and also Josephson junctions, which are the building blocks of superconducting quantum computers.

DOI
10.1201/9781003588337-4

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Mean field and fluctuations for fermionic systems: from ultracold Fermi gases to cuprates

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This Thesis analyzes the role of a mean-field theory and of the fluctuations in two different fermionic systems: the BCS-BEC crossover and high-Tc superconducting cuprates. In the first part of the Thesis we introduce the mean-field theory and the Gaussian-level fluctuations for the BCS-BEC crossover, i.e. the continuous evolution observed in ultracold neutral fermionic systems, from a weakly-coupled regime where fermions form Cooper pairs, to a strongly-coupled regime where the fermions at first form bosonic molecular dimers, subsequently undergoing Bose-Einstein condensation for low enough temperatures. We then analyze some problems related to the crossover: the condensate fraction for a spin-unbalanced Fermi gas, the Beliaev decay for collective excitations and the case of a two-dimensional Fermi gas, for which we calculate the first sound velocity and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless critical temperature, in very good agreement with recent experimental data. Finally we analyze a regularization procedure for the equation of state in the deep-BEC limit, allowing one to analytically derive the correct ratio between the fermionic and bosonic scattering lengths. In the second part of the Thesis we introduce a gauge approach to superconductivity in cuprates in which the hole is decomposed as the product of a spinful neutral particle, the spinon, and a spinless charged particle, the holon. The statistics of each particle is modified by binding it to a gauge field providing a statistical flux, this approach being analogous to Chern-Simons bosonization. We thus obtain a model characterized by three characteristic temperatures corresponding, respectively, to the appearance of a finite density of incoherent holon pairs, of a finite density of incoherent spinon pairs and, finally, to the phase coherence leading to superconductivity. Specifically in the present Thesis within this model we study the superfluid density, demonstrating that the spinon and holon contributions sum according to a Ioffe-Larking-like rule, analogous to that they found for resistivity, showing excellent agreement with experimental data in the moderate underdoping up to optimal doping region. We also demonstrated that the formalism reproduces the quasi-universality observed in experimental data at different dopings and allows for an analytical derivation of a relation that approximates the Uemura relation for moderate dopings.

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The problem of the evolution from BCS theory with cooperative Cooper pairing to the formation and condensation of composite bosons has attracted considerable attention for the past several decades. It has gained renewed impetus in the mid-eighties with the discovery of the high-Tc superconductors, which have a coherence length comparable to the interparticle spacing. More recently, this subject has spurred a great deal of research activity in connection with experiments involving dilute atomic gases of fermionic atoms. The initial objective of this work will be to use functional integral techniques to analyze the low-temperature BCS-to-BEC evolution of d-wave superconductors within the saddle point (mean field) approximation for a continuum model. Then, the same mathematical formalism will be applied to the problem of the BCS-to-BEC evolution of fully spin-polarized p-wave Fermi gases in two dimensions. We find that a quantum phase transition occurs for both systems as they are driven from the BCS-like regime of weakly interacting fermionic pairs to the opposite BEC-like regime of strongly interacting bosonic molecules. This is in contrast to the smooth crossover predicted and observed in systems that exhibit s-wave pairing symmetry. We calculate several spectroscopic and thermodynamic properties that signal the occurrence of this phase transition, and suggest some possible experimental realizations. Finally, fluctuations about the saddle point solution are included in the calculations, and the effects of such correction are analyzed in the low (T~0) and high (T~Tc) temperature limits. We conclude that, at high temperatures, the bosonic degrees of freedom that arise from two-particle bound states become essential to describe the strong coupling limit,\nas the saddle point approximation alone becomes unreliable.

•Sep 12, 2005•2 citations
In this chapter we consider the quantum statistical mechanics of identical nonrelativistic fermions by introducing the formalism of functional integration for the fermionic field. We then derive the equation of state of non-interacting and weakly-interacting repulsive fermions. We also discuss the pairing of electrons within the mean-field Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory of low-temperature superconductivity and the Ginzburg-Landau theory, which is quite successful near the critical temperature. Finally, we analyze the BCS-BEC crossover that was experimentally achieved with ultracold fermionic atoms twenty years ago and also Josephson junctions, which are the building blocks of superconducting quantum computers.
In this chapter we consider the quantum statistical mechanics of identical nonrelativistic bosons by introducing the formalism of functional integration for the bosonic field. We then derive the equation of state of non-interacting and weakly-interacting massive bosons taking into account beyond-mean-field regularized Gaussian fluctuations. We also analyze various properties of the mean-field time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. In particular, we show that this equation is equivalent to the zero-temperature equations of superfluid hydrodynamics proposed in 1949 by Landau. Finally, we discuss topological and solitonic solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.
This chapter explains an accurate theory of interacting Fermi mixtures with spin imbalance that shows novel features and a far richer phase diagram compared to the balanced counterpart. Ultracold quantum gases of fermionic atoms are at the crossroads of both experimental and theoretical physicists and present the possibility of experimentally studying various pairing phenomena due to the remarkable experimental control in these gases. This has related to many fundamental discoveries and, in particular, to the realization of the crossover from a Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid of loosely bound Cooper pairs to a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of tightly bound molecules, the so-called the BEC-BCS crossover. The BCS theory is one of the greatest theoretical advances in physics in the second half of the twentieth century and was first fully formulated in 1957 by Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer.
This Thesis analyzes the role of a mean-field theory and of the fluctuations in two different fermionic systems: the BCS-BEC crossover and high-Tc superconducting cuprates. In the first part of the Thesis we introduce the mean-field theory and the Gaussian-level fluctuations for the BCS-BEC crossover, i.e. the continuous evolution observed in ultracold neutral fermionic systems, from a weakly-coupled regime where fermions form Cooper pairs, to a strongly-coupled regime where the fermions at first form bosonic molecular dimers, subsequently undergoing Bose-Einstein condensation for low enough temperatures. We then analyze some problems related to the crossover: the condensate fraction for a spin-unbalanced Fermi gas, the Beliaev decay for collective excitations and the case of a two-dimensional Fermi gas, for which we calculate the first sound velocity and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless critical temperature, in very good agreement with recent experimental data. Finally we analyze a regularization procedure for the equation of state in the deep-BEC limit, allowing one to analytically derive the correct ratio between the fermionic and bosonic scattering lengths. In the second part of the Thesis we introduce a gauge approach to superconductivity in cuprates in which the hole is decomposed as the product of a spinful neutral particle, the spinon, and a spinless charged particle, the holon. The statistics of each particle is modified by binding it to a gauge field providing a statistical flux, this approach being analogous to Chern-Simons bosonization. We thus obtain a model characterized by three characteristic temperatures corresponding, respectively, to the appearance of a finite density of incoherent holon pairs, of a finite density of incoherent spinon pairs and, finally, to the phase coherence leading to superconductivity. Specifically in the present Thesis within this model we study the superfluid density, demonstrating that the spinon and holon contributions sum according to a Ioffe-Larking-like rule, analogous to that they found for resistivity, showing excellent agreement with experimental data in the moderate underdoping up to optimal doping region. We also demonstrated that the formalism reproduces the quasi-universality observed in experimental data at different dopings and allows for an analytical derivation of a relation that approximates the Uemura relation for moderate dopings.
It is intended to derive the Ginzburg–Landau (GL) equation directly from the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) Hamiltonian. By the use of the Hubbard–Stratonovitch transformation, the electron–electron interaction composed of four fermion operators is eliminated to yield an auxiliary boson field. This is an effective field in which electrons behave as if they were free. In applying the path integral method, the electron field is integrated out to remain the Lagrangian for this boson field. The symmetry breaking and the phase transition of the system described by this field are discussed, and it is shown that this boson field turns out to be the GL order parameter. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 69: 693–703, 1998
The Ginzburg-Landau theory of a trapped Fermi gas with a BEC-BCS crossover is derived by the path-integral method. In addition to the standard Ginzburg-Landau equation, a second equation describing the total atom density is obtained. These two coupled equations are necessary to describe both homogeneous and inhomogeneous systems. The Ginzburg-Landau theory is valid near the transition temperature Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ on both sides of the crossover. In the weakly interacting BEC region, it is also accurate at zero temperature where the Ginzburg-Landau equation can be mapped onto the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation. The applicability of GP equation at finite temperature is discussed. On the BEC side, the fluctuation of the order parameter is studied and the renormalization to the molecule coupling constant is obtained.
The problem of the evolution from BCS theory with cooperative Cooper pairing to the formation and condensation of composite bosons has attracted considerable attention for the past several decades. It has gained renewed impetus in the mid-eighties with the discovery of the high-Tc superconductors, which have a coherence length comparable to the interparticle spacing. More recently, this subject has spurred a great deal of research activity in connection with experiments involving dilute atomic gases of fermionic atoms. The initial objective of this work will be to use functional integral techniques to analyze the low-temperature BCS-to-BEC evolution of d-wave superconductors within the saddle point (mean field) approximation for a continuum model. Then, the same mathematical formalism will be applied to the problem of the BCS-to-BEC evolution of fully spin-polarized p-wave Fermi gases in two dimensions. We find that a quantum phase transition occurs for both systems as they are driven from the BCS-like regime of weakly interacting fermionic pairs to the opposite BEC-like regime of strongly interacting bosonic molecules. This is in contrast to the smooth crossover predicted and observed in systems that exhibit s-wave pairing symmetry. We calculate several spectroscopic and thermodynamic properties that signal the occurrence of this phase transition, and suggest some possible experimental realizations. Finally, fluctuations about the saddle point solution are included in the calculations, and the effects of such correction are analyzed in the low (T~0) and high (T~Tc) temperature limits. We conclude that, at high temperatures, the bosonic degrees of freedom that arise from two-particle bound states become essential to describe the strong coupling limit,\nas the saddle point approximation alone becomes unreliable.