No Arabic abstract
In this thesis, I present a non-perturbative approach to the single-band attractive Hubard model which is an extension of previous work by Vilk and Tremblay on the repulsive model. Exact results are derived in the general context of functional derivative approaches to many-body theories. The first step of the approximation is based on a local field type ansatz. All physical quantities can be expressed as a function of double-occupancy (in addition to temperature and filling). Double-occupancy is determined without adjustable parameter by imposing the Pauli principle and a crucial sum-rule, making the first step of the approximation Two-Particle Self-Consistent. The final expression for the self-energy is obtained by calculating the low-frequency part of the exact expression with the two-particle correlation, Green function and renormalized vertex obtained in the first step of the approximation. The Mermin-Wagner theorem in two dimensions is automatically satisfied. Application of this non-perturbative many-body approach to the intermediate coupling regime shows quantitative agreement with quantum Monte Carlo calculations. Both approaches predict the existence of a pseudogap in the single-particle spectral weight. I present some physical properties, such as correlation lengths, superfluid density, and characteristic pair fluctuation energy, to highlight the origin of the pseudogap in the weak to intermediate coupling regime. These results suggest that two-dimensional systems that are described by a symmetry group larger than SO(2) could have a larger region of pseudogap behavior. High-temperature superconductors may belong to that category of systems.
We present a functional renormalization group analysis of superconductivity in the ground state of the attractive Hubbard model on a square lattice. Spontaneous symmetry breaking is treated in a purely fermionic setting via anomalous propagators and anomalous effective interactions. In addition to the anomalous interactions arising already in the reduced BCS model, effective interactions with three incoming legs and one outgoing leg (and vice versa) occur. We accomplish their integration into the usual diagrammatic formalism by introducing a Nambu matrix for the effective interactions. From a random-phase approximation generalized through use of this matrix we conclude that the impact of the 3+1 effective interactions is limited, especially considering the effective interactions important for the determination of the order parameter. The exact hierarchy of flow equations for one-particle irreducible vertex functions is truncated on the two-particle level, with higher-order self-energy corrections included in a scheme proposed by Katanin. Using a parametrization of effective interactions by patches in momentum space, the flow equations can be integrated numerically to the lowest scales without encountering divergences. Momentum-shell as well as interaction-flow cutoff functions are used, including a small external field or a large external field and a counterterm, respectively. Both approaches produce momentum-resolved order parameter values directly from the microscopic model. The size of the superconducting gap is in reasonable agreement with expectations from other studies.
We study the frequency-dependent structure of electronic self-energy in the pseudogap and superconducting states of the two-dimensional Hubbard model. We present the self-energy calculated with the cellular dynamical mean-field theory systematically in the space of temperature, electron density, and interaction strength. We show that the low-frequency part of the self-energy is well represented by a simple equation, which describes the transitions of an electron to and from a hidden fermionic state. By fitting the numerical data with this simple equation, we determine the parameters characterizing the hidden fermion and discuss its identity. The simple expression of the self-energy offers a way to organize numerical data of this uncomprehended superconducting and pseudogap states, as well as a useful tool to analyze spectroscopic experimental results. The successful description by the simple two-component fermion model supports the idea of dark and bright fermions emerging from a bare electron as bistable excitations in doped Mott insulators.
The two-dimensional attractive Hubbard model is studied in the weak to intermediate coupling regime by employing a non-perturbative approach. It is first shown that this approach is in quantitative agreement with Monte Carlo calculations for both single-particle and two-particle quantities. Both the density of states and the single-particle spectral weight show a pseudogap at the Fermi energy below some characteristic temperature T*, also in good agreement with quantum Monte Carlo calculations. The pseudogap is caused by critical pairing fluctuations in the low-temperature renormalized classical regime $omega < T$ of the two-dimensional system. With increasing temperature the spectral weight fills in the pseudogap instead of closing it and the pseudogap appears earlier in the density of states than in the spectral function. Small temperature changes around T* can modify the spectral weight over frequency scales much larger than temperature. Several qualitative results for the s-wave case should remain true for d-wave superconductors.
The conserving approximation scheme to many-body problems was developed by Kadanoff and Baym using the functional-derivative approach. Another approach for the Hubbard model also satisfies conservation laws, but in addition it satisfies the Pauli principle and a number of sum rules. A concise formal derivation of that approach, using functional derivatives, is given in this conference paper to highlight formal analogies and differences with conserving approximations.
We explore the ground-state properties of the two-band Hubbard model with degenerate electronic bands, parametrized by nearest-neighbor hopping $t$, intra- and inter-orbital on-site Coulomb repulsions $U$ and $U^prime$, and Hund coupling $J$, focusing on the case with $J>0$. Using Jastrow-Slater wave functions, we consider both states with and without magnetic/orbital order. Electron pairing can also be included in the wave function, in order to detect the occurrence of superconductivity for generic electron densities $n$. When no magnetic/orbital order is considered, the Mott transition is continuous for $n=1$ (quarter filling); instead, at $n=2$ (half filling), it is first order for small values of $J/U$, while it turns out to be continuous when the ratio $J/U$ is increased. A significant triplet pairing is present in a broad region around $n=2$. By contrast, singlet superconductivity (with $d$-wave symmetry) is detected only for small values of the Hund coupling and very close to half filling. When including magnetic and orbital order, the Mott insulator acquires antiferromagnetic order for $n=2$; instead, for $n=1$ the insulator has ferromagnetic and antiferro-orbital orders. In the latter case, a metallic phase is present for small values of $U/t$ and the metal-insulator transition becomes first order. In the region with $1<n<2$, we observe that ferromagnetism (with no orbital order) is particularly robust for large values of the Coulomb repulsion and that triplet superconductivity is strongly suppressed by the presence of antiferromagnetism. The case with $J=0$, which has an enlarged SU(4) symmetry due to the interplay between spin and orbital degrees of freedom, is also analyzed.