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arXiv:nucl-th/0405011 · Reviews of Modern Physics

Colloquium : Exactly solvable Richardson-Gaudin models for many-body quantum systems

J. Dukelsky, Stuart Pittel, Germán Sierra

Published Aug 6, 2004• 407 citations
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Abstract

The use of exactly solvable Richardson-Gaudin models to describe the physics of systems with strong pair correlations is reviewed. The article begins with a brief discussion of Richardson's early work, which demonstrated the exact solvability of the pure pairing model, and then shows how that work has evolved recently into a much richer class of exactly solvable models. The Richardson solution leads naturally to an exact analogy between these quantum models and classical electrostatic problems in two dimensions. This analogy is then used to demonstrate formally how BCS theory emerges as the large-$N$ limit of the pure pairing Hamiltonian. Several applications to problems of relevance to condensed-matter physics, nuclear physics, and the physics of confined systems are considered. Some of the interesting effects that are discussed in the context of these exactly solvable models include (i) the crossover from superconductivity to a fluctuation-dominated regime in small metallic grains; (ii) the role of the nucleon Pauli principle in suppressing the effects of high-spin bosons in interacting boson models of nuclei, and (iii) the possibility of fragmentation in confined boson systems. Interesting insight is also provided into the origin of the superconducting phase transition both in two-dimensional electronic systems and in atomic nuclei, based on the electrostatic image of the corresponding exactly solvable quantum pairing models.

DOI
10.1103/revmodphys.76.643

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Integrable systems take a special niche in quantum many-body systems. Due to the underlying algebraic structure, it is possible to capture all the quantum correlations exactly within a Bethe Ansatz wavefunction at a favourably scaling computational cost. Richardson [1] and Gaudin [2] have shown that the reduced Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) Hamiltonian of superconductivity [3] is integrable and that the Bethe Ansatz state corresponds to a product wave function of generalized Cooper pairs [4]. In this formulation, the Bethe ansatz state is equivalent to a non-orthogonal geminal, which is widely used in quantum chemistry to describe electron pair correlations in atoms and molecules [5]. Inspired by Richardson-Gaudin integrable systems, it is possible to construct classes of non-orthogonal geminals, allowing for an accurate description of realistic and non-integrable strongly correlated atoms and molecules, while retaining the favorable computational scaling [6, 7]. In this contribution, I will discuss Richardson-Gaudin integrability and why it is useful for strongly correlated systems.

•Jan 1, 2013•0 citations
The use of exactly solvable Richardson-Gaudin models to describe the physics of systems with strong pair correlations is reviewed. The article begins with a brief discussion of Richardson's early work, which demonstrated the exact solvability of the pure pairing model, and then shows how that work has evolved recently into a much richer class of exactly solvable models. The Richardson solution leads naturally to an exact analogy between these quantum models and classical electrostatic problems in two dimensions. This analogy is then used to demonstrate formally how BCS theory emerges as the large-NNN limit of the pure pairing Hamiltonian. Several applications to problems of relevance to condensed-matter physics, nuclear physics, and the physics of confined systems are considered. Some of the interesting effects that are discussed in the context of these exactly solvable models include (i) the crossover from superconductivity to a fluctuation-dominated regime in small metallic grains; (ii) the role of the nucleon Pauli principle in suppressing the effects of high-spin bosons in interacting boson models of nuclei, and (iii) the possibility of fragmentation in confined boson systems. Interesting insight is also provided into the origin of the superconducting phase transition both in two-dimensional electronic systems and in atomic nuclei, based on the electrostatic image of the corresponding exactly solvable quantum pairing models.
We first show that the quantum pairing problem can be mapped exactly on to a classical electrostatic problem in two dimensions and then use this analogy to obtain a pictorial representation of how superconductivity arises in a finite fermionic system. Specific application to the nuclei 114–116 Sn suggests some new insight into the evolution of pairing correlations in a quantum system with few active particles. We also summarize other recent work on exactly solvable pairing models, including their applications in a wide variety of strongly correlated quantum systems.
The exact solution of the BCS pairing Hamiltonian was found by Richardson in 1963. While little attention was paid to this exactly solvable model in the remainder of the 20th century, there was a burst of work at the beginning of this century focusing on its applications in different areas of quantum physics. We review the history of this exact solution and discuss recent developments related to the Richardson-Gaudin class of integrable models, focussing on the role of these various models in nuclear physics.
The exact solution of the SU(2) pairing Hamiltonian with non-degenerate single particle orbits was introduced by Richardson in the early sixties. The exact solution passed almost unnoticed till was recovered in the last decade in an effort to describe the disappearance of superconductivity in ultrasmall superconducting grains. Since then it has been extended to several families integrable models, called the Richardson-Gaudin (RG) models. In particular, the rational family of integrable RG models has been widely applied to mesoscopic systems like small grains, quantum dots and nuclear systems where finite size effects play an important role. We will first introduce these families of integrable models and then we will describe the first applications of the hyperbolic family to spinless cold fermionic atonies in two dimensional lattices and to heavy nuclei.
Integrable systems take a special niche in quantum many-body systems. Due to the underlying algebraic structure, it is possible to capture all the quantum correlations exactly within a Bethe Ansatz wavefunction at a favourably scaling computational cost. Richardson [1] and Gaudin [2] have shown that the reduced Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) Hamiltonian of superconductivity [3] is integrable and that the Bethe Ansatz state corresponds to a product wave function of generalized Cooper pairs [4]. In this formulation, the Bethe ansatz state is equivalent to a non-orthogonal geminal, which is widely used in quantum chemistry to describe electron pair correlations in atoms and molecules [5]. Inspired by Richardson-Gaudin integrable systems, it is possible to construct classes of non-orthogonal geminals, allowing for an accurate description of realistic and non-integrable strongly correlated atoms and molecules, while retaining the favorable computational scaling [6, 7]. In this contribution, I will discuss Richardson-Gaudin integrability and why it is useful for strongly correlated systems.