Partial self-consistency and analyticity in many-body perturbation theory: particle number conservation and a generalized sum rule

We consider a general class of approximations which guarantees the conservation of particle number in many-body perturbation theory. To do this we extend the concept of $\Phi$-derivability for the self-energy $\Sigma$ to a larger class of diagrammatic terms in which only some of the Green's function lines contain the fully dressed Green's function $G$. We call the corresponding approximations for $\Sigma$ partially $\Phi$-derivable. A special subclass of such approximations, which are gauge-invariant, is obtained by dressing loops in the diagrammatic expansion of $\Phi$ consistently with $G$. These approximations are number conserving but do not have to fulfill other conservation laws, such as the conservation of energy and momentum. From our formalism we can easily deduce if commonly used approximations will fulfill the continuity equation, which implies particle number conservation. We further show how the concept of partial $\Phi$-derivability plays an important role in the derivation of a generalized sum rule for the particle number, which reduces to the Luttinger-Ward theorem in the case of a homogeneous electron gas, and the Friedel sum rule in the case of the Anderson model. To do this we need to ensure that the Green's function has certain complex analytic properties, which can be guaranteed if the spectral function is positive semi-definite.The latter property can be ensured for a subset of partially $\Phi$-derivable approximations for the self-energy, namely those that can be constructed from squares of so-called half-diagrams. In case the analytic requirements are not fulfilled we highlight a number of subtle issues related to branch cuts, pole structure and multi-valuedness. We also show that various schemes of computing the particle number are consistent for particle number conserving approximations.Comment: Minor changes, corrected typo

Development of non-equilibrium Green's functions for use with full interaction in complex systems

We present an ongoing development of an existing code for calculating ground-state, steady-state, and transient properties of many-particle systems. The development involves the addition of the full four-index two electron integrals, which allows for the calculation of transport systems, as well as the extension to multi-level electronic systems, such as atomic and molecular systems and other applications. The necessary derivations are shown, along with some preliminary results and a summary of future plans for the code

Solving the Kadanoff-Baym equations for inhomogenous systems: Application to atoms and molecules

We have implemented time-propagation of the non-equilibrium Green function for atoms and molecules, by solving the Kadanoff-Baym equations within a conserving self-energy approximation. We here demonstrate the usefulnes of time-propagation for calculating spectral functions and for describing the correlated electron dynamics in a non-perturbative electric field. We also demonstrate the use of time-propagation as a method for calculating charge-neutral excitation energies, equivalent to highly advanced solutions of the Bethe-Salpeter equation.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Contour calculus for many-particle functions

In non-equilibrium many-body perturbation theory, Langreth rules are an efficient way to extract real-time equations from contour ones. However, the standard rules are not applicable in cases that do not reduce to simple convolutions and multiplications. We introduce a procedure for extracting real-time equations from general multi-argument contour functions with an arbitrary number of arguments. This is done for both the standard Keldysh contour, as well as the extended contour with a vertical track that allows for general initial states. This amounts to the generalization of the standard Langreth rules to much more general situations. These rules involve multi-argument retarded functions as key ingredients, for which we derive intuitive graphical rules. We apply our diagrammatic recipe to derive Langreth rules for the so-called double triangle structure and the general vertex function, relevant for the study of vertex corrections beyond the $GW$ approximation

Nonequilibrium green functions in time-dependent current-density-functional theory

We give an overview of the underlying concepts of time-dependent current-density functional theory (TDCDFT). We show how the basic equations of TDCDFT can be elegantly derived using the time contour method of nonequilibrium Green function theory. We further demonstrate how the formalism can be used to derive explicit equations for the exchange-correlation vector potentials and integral kernels for the Kohn-Sham equations and their linearized form.</p