The Hubbard model with large orbital degeneracy has recently gained relevance in the context of ultracold earth alkali-like atoms. We compute its static properties in the SU(
2M) symmetric limit for up to
M=8 bands at half filling within dynamical mean-field theory, using the numerically exact multigrid Hirsch-Fye quantum Monte Carlo approach. Based on these unbiased data, we establish scaling laws which predict the phase boundaries of the paramagnetic Mott metal-insulator transition at arbitrary orbital degeneracy
M with high accuracy.
The Hubbard model for electrons with orbital degeneracy is shown to have an underlying
SUd(4) symmetry of spin-orbital double. A hidden charge
SUc(4) symmetry is exposed and an extended Lieb-Mattis transformation, which maps these two symmetries into each other, is given. On the basis of elementary degenerate perturbative theory, it is shown that the system with strong repulsive coupling is equivalent to a
SO(6) Heisenberg magnet at half-filling and a
SU(4) one at quarter-filling. The band is half-filled at all temperature for $\ensuremath{\mu}=3U/2.$ The features of ground-state and low-lying excitations in one dimension are indicated according to exact solutions.
We investigate the Mott transitions in the multiorbital Hubbard model at half-filling by means of the self-energy functional approach. The phase diagrams are obtained at finite temperatures for the Hubbard model with up to fourfold degenerate bands. We discuss how the first-order Mott transition points
Uc1 and
Uc2 as well as the critical temperature
Tc depend on the orbital degeneracy. It is elucidated that enhanced orbital fluctuations play a key role to control the Mott transitions in the multiorbital Hubbard model.