Characterization of a correlated topological Kondo insulator in one dimension

We investigate the ground-state of a p-wave Kondo-Heisenberg model introduced by Alexandrov and Coleman with an Ising-type anisotropy in the Kondo interaction and correlated conduction electrons. Our aim is to understand how they affect the stability of the Haldane state obtained in the SU(2) symmetric case without the Hubbard interaction. By applying the density-matrix renormalization group algorithm and calculating the entanglement entropy we show that in the anisotropic case a phase transition occurs and a N\'eel state emerges above a critical value of the Coulomb interaction. These findings are also corroborated by the examination of the entanglement spectrum and the spin profile of the system which clarify the structure of each phase.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figure

Entanglement, excitations and correlation effects in narrow zigzag graphene nanoribbons

We investigate the low-lying excitation spectrum and ground-state properties of narrow graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edge configurations. Nanoribbons of comparable widths have been synthesized very recently [P. Ruffieux, \emph{et al.} Nature \textbf{531}, 489 (2016)], and their descriptions require more sophisticated methods since in this regime conventional methods, like mean-field or density-functional theory with local density approximation, fail to capture the enhanced quantum fluctuations. Using the unbiased density-matrix renormalization group algorithm we calculate the charge gaps with high accuracy for different widths and interaction strengths and compare them with mean-field results. It turns out that the gaps are much smaller in the former case due to the proper treatment of quantum fluctuations. Applying the elements of quantum information theory we also reveal the entanglement structure inside a ribbon and examine the spectrum of subsystem density matrices to understand the origin of entanglement. We examine the possibility of magnetic ordering and the effect of magnetic field. Our findings are relevant for understanding the gap values in different recent experiments and the deviations between them.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, revised version, accepted for publication in PR

Optimizing momentum space DMRG using quantum information entropy

In order to optimize the ordering of the lattice sites in the momentum space and quantum chemistry versions of the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method we have studied the separability and entanglement of the target state for the 1-D Hubbard model and various molecules. By analyzing the behavior of von Neumann and Neumann-Renyi entropies we have found criteria that help to fasten convergence. A new initialization procedure has been developed which maximizes the Kullback-Leibler entropy and extends the active space (AS) in a dynamical fashion. The dynamically extended active space (DEAS) procedure reduces significantly the effective system size during the first half sweep and accelerates the speed of convergence of momentum space DMRG and quantum chemistry DMRG to a great extent. The effect of lattice site ordering on the number of block states to be kept during the RG procedure is also investigated.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figure

Competition between Hund's coupling and Kondo effect in a one-dimensional extended periodic Anderson model

We study the ground-state properties of an extended periodic Anderson model to understand the role of Hund's coupling between localized and itinerant electrons using the density-matrix renormalization group algorithm. By calculating the von Neumann entropies we show that two phase transitions occur and two new phases appear as the hybridization is increased in the symmetric half-filled case due to the competition between Kondo-effect and Hund's coupling. In the intermediate phase, which is bounded by two critical points, we found a dimerized ground state, while in the other spatially homogeneous phases the ground state is Haldane-like and Kondo-singlet-like, respectively. We also determine the entanglement spectrum and the entanglement diagram of the system by calculating the mutual information thereby clarifying the structure of each phase.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, revised version, accepted for publication in PR

Analysis of two-orbital correlations in wavefunctions restricted to electron-pair states

Wavefunctions constructed from electron-pair states can accurately model strong electron correlation effects and are promising approaches especially for larger many-body systems. In this article, we analyze the nature and the type of electron correlation effects that can be captured by wavefunctions restricted to electron-pair states. We focus on the Antisymmetric Product of 1-reference orbital Geminal (AP1roG) method combined with an orbital optimization protocol presented in [Phys. Rev. B, 89, 201106(R), 2014] whose performance is assessed against electronic structures obtained form DMRG reference data. Our numerical analysis covers model systems for strong correlation: the one-dimensional Hubbard model with periodic boundary condition as well as metallic and molecular hydrogen rings. Specifically, the accuracy of AP1roG is benchmarked using the single-orbital entropy, the orbital-pair mutual information as well as the eigenvalue spectrum of the one-orbital and two-orbital reduced density matrices. Our study indicates that contributions from singly occupied states become important in the strong correlation regime which highlights the limitations of the AP1roG method. Furthermore, we examine the effect of orbital rotations within the AP1roG model on correlations between orbital pairs.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Unified phase diagram of models exhibiting neutral-ionic transition

We have studied the neutral-ionic transition in organic mixed-stack compounds. A unified model has been derived which, in limiting cases, is equivalent to the models proposed earlier, the donor-acceptor model and the ionic Hubbard model. Detailed numerical calculations have been performed on this unified model with the help of the density-matrix renormalization-group (DMRG) procedure calculating excitation gaps, ionicity, lattice site entropy, two-site entropy, and the dimer order parameter on long chains and the unified phase diagram has been determined.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure