A dynamical generalisation of the nonlocal coherent-potential approximation is derived based upon the functional integral approach to the interacting electron problem. The free energy is proven to be variational with respect to the self-energy provided a self-consistency condition on a cluster of sites is satisfied. In the present work, calculations are performed within the static approximation and the effect of the nonlocal physics on the formation of the local moment state in a simple model is investigated. The results reveal the importance of the dynamical correlations.
Do electrons become ferromagnetic just because of their repulisve Coulomb interaction? Our calculations on the three-dimensional electron gas imply that itinerant ferromagnetim of delocalized electrons without lattice and band structure, the most basic model considered by Stoner, is suppressed due to many-body correlations as speculated already by Wigner, and a possible ferromagnetic transition lowering the density is precluded by the formation of the Wigner crystal.
We study the dynamical magnetic susceptibility of a strongly correlated electronic system in the presence of a time-dependent hopping field, deriving a generalized Bethe-Salpeter equation which is valid also out of equilibrium. Focusing on the single-orbital Hubbard model within the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation, we solve the equation in the non-equilibrium adiabatic regime, obtaining a closed expression for the transverse magnetic susceptibility. From this, we provide a rigorous definition of non-equilibrium (time-dependent) magnon frequencies and exchange parameters, expressed in terms of non-equilibrium single-electron Green functions and self-energies. In the particular case of equilibrium, we recover previously known results.
In this paper, we investigate how nonlocal correlations affect, selectively, the physics of correlated electrons over different energy scales, from the Fermi level to the band-edges. This goal is achieved by applying a diagrammatic extension of dynamical mean field theory (DMFT), the dynamical vertex approximation (D$Gamma$A), to study several spectral and thermodynamic properties of the unfrustrated Hubbard model in two and three dimensions. Specifically, we focus first on the low-energy regime by computing the electronic scattering rate and the quasiparticle mass renormalization for decreasing temperatures at a fixed interaction strength. This way, we obtain a precise characterization of the several steps, through which the Fermi-liquid physics is progressively destroyed by nonlocal correlations. Our study is then extended to a broader energy range, by analyzing the temperature behavior of the kinetic and potential energy, as well as of the corresponding energy distribution functions. Our findings allow us to identify a smooth, but definite evolution of the nature of nonlocal correlations by increasing interaction: They either increase or decrease the kinetic energy w.r.t. DMFT depending on the interaction strength being weak or strong, respectively. This reflects the corresponding evolution of the ground state from a nesting-driven (Slater) to a superexchange-driven (Heisenberg) antiferromagnet (AF), whose fingerprints are, thus, recognizable in the spatial correlations of the paramagnetic phase. Finally, a critical analysis of our numerical results of the potential energy at the largest interaction allows us to identify possible procedures to improve the ladder-based algorithms adopted in the dynamical vertex approximation.
The coherent potential approximation (CPA) is extended to describe satisfactorily the motion of particles in a random potential which is spatially correlated and smoothly varying. In contrast to existing cluster-CPA methods, the present scheme preserves the simplicity of the conventional CPA in using a single self-energy function. Its accuracy is checked by a comparison with the exact moments of the Greens function, and with the spectral function from numerical simulations. The scheme is applied to excitonic absorption spectra in different spatial dimensions.
We generalize the formalism of the dynamical vertex approximation (D$Gamma$A) -- a diagrammatic extension of the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT)-- to treat magnetically ordered phases. To this aim, we start by concisely illustrating the many-electron formalism for performing ladder resummations of Feynman diagrams in systems with broken SU(2)-symmetry, associated to ferromagnetic (FM) or antiferromagnetic (AF) order. We then analyze the algorithmic simplifications introduced by taking the local approximation of the two-particle irreducible vertex functions in the Bethe-Salpeter equations, which defines the ladder implementation of D$Gamma$A for magnetic systems. The relation of this assumption with the DMFT limit of large coordination-number/ high-dimensions is explicitly discussed. As a last step, we derive the expression for the ladder D$Gamma$A self-energy in the FM- and AF-ordered phases of the Hubbard model. The physics emerging in the AF-ordered case is explicitly illustrated by means of approximated calculations based on a static mean-field input for the D$Gamma$A equations. The results obtained capture fundamental aspects of both metallic and insulating ground states of two-dimensional antiferromagnets, providing a reliable compass for future, more extensive applications of our approach. Possible routes to further develop diagrammatic-based treatments of magnetic phases in correlated electron systems are briefly outlined in the conclusions.