Polarization fluctuations in insulators and metals: New and old theories merge

The ground-state fluctuation of polarization P is finite in insulators and divergent in metals, owing to the SWM sum rule [I. Souza, T. Wilkens, and R. M. Martin, Phys. Rev. B 62, 1666 (2000)]. This is a virtue of periodic (i.e. transverse) BCs. I show that within any other boundary conditions the P fluctuation is finite even in metals, and a generalized sum rule applies. The boundary-condition dependence is a pure correlation effect, not present at the independent-particle level. In the longitudinal case div P = -rho, and one equivalently addresses charge fluctuations: the generalized sum rule reduces then to a well known result of many-body theory.Comment: 4 pages, no figur

Optical absorption and activated transport in polaronic systems

We present exact results for the optical response in the one-dimensional Holstein model. In particular, by means of a refined kernel polynomial method, we calculate the ac and dc electrical conductivities at finite temperatures for a wide parameter range of electron phonon interaction. We analyze the deviations from the results of standard small polaron theory in the intermediate coupling regime and discuss non-adiabaticity effects in detail.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

London's limit for the lattice superconductor

A stability problem for the current state of the strong coupling superconductor has been considered within the lattice Ginzburg-Landau model. The critical current problem for a thin superconductor film is solved within the London limit taking into account the crystal lattice symmetry. The current dependence on the order parameter modulus is computed for the superconductor film for various coupling parameter magnitudes. The field penetration problem is shown to be described in this case by the one-dimensional sine-Gordon equation. The field distribution around the vortex is described at the same time by the two-dimensional elliptic sine-Gordon equation.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, Revtex4, mostly technical correction; extended abstrac

Electron Localization in the Insulating State

The insulating state of matter is characterized by the excitation spectrum, but also by qualitative features of the electronic ground state. The insulating ground wavefunction in fact: (i) sustains macroscopic polarization, and (ii) is localized. We give a sharp definition of the latter concept, and we show how the two basic features stem from essentially the same formalism. Our approach to localization is exemplified by means of a two--band Hubbard model in one dimension. In the noninteracting limit the wavefunction localization is measured by the spread of the Wannier orbitals.Comment: 5 pages including 3 figures, submitted to PR

Comment on `Dynamical properties of small polarons'

We show that the conclusion on the breakdown of the standard small polaron theory made recently by E.V. deMello and J. Ranninger (Phys. Rev. B 55, 14872 (1997)) is a result of an incorrect interpretation of the electronic and vibronic energy levels of the two-site Holstein model. The small polaron theory, when properly applied, agrees well with the numerical results of these authors. Also we show that their attempt to connect the properties of the calculated correlation functions with the features of the intersite electron hopping is unsuccessful.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Characterization of two-dimensional fermionic insulating states

Inspired by the duality picture between superconductivity and insulator in two spatial dimension, we conjecture that the order parameter, suitable for characterizing 2D fermionic insulating state, is the disorder operator, usually known in the context of statistical transformation. Namely, the change of the phase of the disorder operator along a closed loop measures the particle density accommodating inside this loop. Thus, identifying this (doped) particle density with the dual counterpart of the magnetic induction in 2D SC, we can naturally introduce the disorder operator as the dual order parameter of 2D insulators. The disorder operator has a branch cut emitting from this ``vortex'' to the single infinitely far point. To test this conjecture against an arbitrary 2D lattice models, we have chosen this branch cut to be compatible with the periodic boundary condition and obtain a general form of its expectation value for non-interacting metal/insulator wavefunction, including gapped mean-field order wavefunction. Based on this expression, we observed analytically that it indeed vanishes for a wide class of band metals in the thermodynamic limit. In insulating states, on the other hand, it is quantified by the localization length or the real-valued gauge invariant 2-from dubbed as the quantum metric tensor