We investigate Luttinger liquid superlattices, periodic structures composed of two kinds of one-dimensional systems of interacting electrons. We calculate several properties of the low-energy sector: the effective charge and spin velocities, the compressibility, various correlation functions, the Landauer conductance, and the Drude weight. The low-energy properties are subsumed into effective parameters, much like homogeneous one-dimensional systems. A generic result is the weighted average nature of these parameters, in proportion to the spatial extent of the underlying subunits, pointing to the possibility of ``engineered'' structures. As a specific realization, we consider a one-dimensional Hubbard superlattice, which consists of a periodic arrangement of two long Hubbard chains with different coupling constants and different hopping amplitudes. This system exhibits a rich phase diagram with several phases, both metallic and insulating. We have found that gapless insulating phases are present over a wide range of parameters.
We investigate Luttinger liquid superlattices, periodic structures composed of two kinds of one-dimensional systems of interacting electrons. We calculate several properties of the low-energy sector: the effective charge and spin velocities, the compressibility, various correlation functions, the Landauer conductance, and the Drude weight. The low-energy properties are subsumed into effective parameters, much like homogeneous one-dimensional systems. A generic result is the weighted average nature of these parameters, in proportion to the spatial extent of the underlying subunits, pointing to the possibility of ``engineered'' structures. As a specific realization, we consider a one-dimensional Hubbard superlattice, which consists of a periodic arrangement of two long Hubbard chains with different coupling constants and different hopping amplitudes. This system exhibits a rich phase diagram with several phases, both metallic and insulating. We have found that gapless insulating phases are present over a wide range of parameters.
We calculate the correlation functions and the dc conductivity of Luttinger liquid superlattices, modelled by a repeated pattern of interacting and free Luttinger liquids. In a specific realization, where the interacting subsystem is a Hubbard chain, the system exhibits a rich phase diagram with four different phases: two metals and two compressible insulators. In general, we find that the effective low-energy description amalgamates features of both types of liquids in proportion to their spatial extent, suggesting the interesting possibility of `engineered' Luttinger liquids. In recent years, new experimental techniques have made it possible to grow nanostructures which are topologically one-dimensional, such as quantum wires and Carbon nanotubes. However, care must be taken when invoking existing models to discuss their electronic properties, since inhomogeneities must be taken into account in a fundamental way. Consider, for instance, the Luttinger liquid (LL), which is the standard model for low-energy phenomena involving interacting electrons in one dimension [1]. The absence of conductance renormalization in long high-mobility GaAs wires [2] has been explained in terms of a usual LL (representing the wire) in contact with a non-interacting LL at each of its ends (representing the Fermi liquid leads); that is, overall, the system can be thought of as an inhomogeneous Luttinger Liquid (ILL). LLs with different inhomogeneity profiles have also been used in the context of the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), to describe transitions between edge states at different fillings [3, 4], or between an edge state connected to a Fermi liquid [5]. A different class of inhomogeneous systems is represented by superlattices (SLs) and multilayers. By varying the relative th...
We calculate the correlation functions and the dc conductivity of Luttinger liquid superlattices, modelled by a repeated pattern of interacting and free Luttinger liquids. In a specific realization, where the interacting subsystem is a Hubbard chain, the system exhibits a rich phase diagram with four different phases: two metals and two compressible insulators. In general, we find that the effective low-energy description amalgamates features of both types of liquids in proportion to their spatial extent , suggesting the interesting possibility of `engineered' Luttinger liquids.
We review the progress in the theory of one-dimensional (ID) Fermi liquids which has occurred over the past decade. The usual Fermi liquid theory, based on a quasi-particle picture, breaks down in one dimension because of the Peierls divergence in the particle-hole bubble, producing anomalous dimensions of operators, and because of charge-spin separation. Both are related to the importance of scattering processes transferring finite momentum. A description of the low-energy properties of gapless 1D quantum systems can be based on the exactly solvable Luttinger model which incorporates these features, and whose correlation functions can be calculated. Special properties of the eigenvalue spectrum, parameterized by one renormalized velocity and one effective coupling constant per degree of freedom, fully describe the physics of this model. Other gapless 1D models share these properties in a low-energy subspace. The concept of a "Luttinger liquid" implies that their low-energy properties are described by an effective Luttinger model, and constitutes the universality class of these quantum systems. Once the mapping on the Luttinger model is achieved, one has an asymptotically exact solution of the 1D many-body problem. Lattice models identified as Luttinger liquids include the 1D Hubbard model off half-filling, and variants such as the t-J- or the extended Hubbard model. In addition, 1D electron-phonon systems or metals with impurities can be Luttinger liquids, as well as the edge states in the quantum Hall effect.
The low-energy properties of interacting Fermi systems are highly constrained by conservation laws. They generally simplify the structure of the underlying renormalization group by reducing the number of independent renormalization constants. In one dimension, all properties of normal metallic fixed points are uniquely determined by separate charge and spin conservation for states near the left and right Fermi points, respectively. We construct the general Luttinger-liquid theory of one-dimensional (1D) metals directly from these conservation laws. Luttinger-liquid parameters emerge naturally from the velocities associated with the conserved currents at the Luttinger-liquid fixed point. Instead of bosonization, one may thus use techniques familiar from Fermi-liquid theory, i.e., Feynman diagrams, equations of motion, and Ward identities. The choice of a technique comprising both Fermi- and Luttinger-liquid theory makes the similarities and differences of both theories particularly transparent, and sets the stage for constructing non-Fermi-liquid metallic fixed points in d>1. Several generic properties and asymptotic conservation laws of 2D non-Fermi-liquid metals are discussed.
Abstract. I give a brief introduction to Luttinger liquids. Luttinger liquids are paramagnetic one-dimensional metals without Landau quasi-particle excitations. The elementary excitations are collective charge and spin modes, leading to charge-spin separation. Correlation functions exhibit power-law behavior. All physical properties can be calculated, e.g. by bosonization, and depend on three parameters only: the renormalized coupling constant Kρ, and the charge and spin velocities. I also discuss the stability of Luttinger liquids with respect to temperature, interchain coupling, lattice effects and phonons, and list important open problems. WHAT IS A LUTTINGER LIQUID ANYWAY? Ordinary, three-dimensional metals are described by Fermi liquid theory. Fermi liquid theory is about the importance of electron-electron interactions in metals. It states that there is a 1:1-correspondence between the low-energy excitations of a free Fermi gas, and those of an interacting electron liquid which are termed “quasiparticles” [1]. Roughly speaking, the combination of the Pauli principle with low excitation energy (e.g. T ≪ EF) and the large phase space available in 3D, produces
It is now possible to create wires consisting of a single chain of atoms on an insulating substrate, with possible applications in nanoscale circuitry. However, experimental data on such systems are currently rather limited and as such a thorough theoretical investigation of such systems is required. In particular, it is useful to know to what extent the behaviour of such wires is one-dimensional - purely one-dimensional systems display Luttinger liquid behaviour, as opposed to the Fermi liquid behaviour characteristic of higher dimensional systems. However, conventional techniques in theoretical surface science are unable to provide a description of electronic correlations at the level required for one dimensional systems. The existing literature on such atomic wire systems is first reviewed. A discussion of physics in one spatial dimension follows, with a thorough introduction to both the Luttinger liquid and the analytical solutions of the Luttinger model. These concepts are then applied to a simplified model of an atomic wire system - two coupled chains of atoms, on just one of which electron-electron interactions are included. The chain which includes interactions thus represents the wire, while the non-interacting chain represents, albeit incompletely, the influence of the insulating substrate upon which the wire is embedded. Evidence for Luttinger liquid behaviour would be found in the excitation spectra and correlation functions of the system. A Fortran 90 code was written to implement the above, and both a description of the code and numerical results are presented. The results from excitations and correlation functions of the system indicate that, within the limitations of the model, Luttinger liquid behaviour may well survive. It is possible to calculate for larger and more complicated systems by use of the Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) algorithm, which relies on keeping only those states of the many particle system needed to describe the ground state and the low-energy excitations. The underlying theory of DMRG is discussed and followed with presentation of preliminary results based on a Hubbard model Hamiltonian.