Superconductivity in the two-dimensional Hubbard model?

A refined variational wave function for the two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model is studied numerically, with the aim of approaching the difficult crossover regime of intermediate values of U. The issue of a superconducting ground state with d-wave symmetry is investigated for an average electron density n=0.8125 and for U=8t. Due to finite-size effects a clear-cut answer to this fundamental question has not yet been reached.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, Proc. 30th Int. Conf. of Theoretical Physics, Ustron, Poland, 2006, to be published in phys. stat. so

Fate of the Wigner crystal on the square lattice

The phase diagram of a system of electrons hopping on a square lattice and interacting through long-range Coulomb forces is studied as a function of density and interaction strength. The presence of a lattice strongly enhances the stability of the Wigner crystal phase as compared to the case of the two-dimensional electron gas.Comment: ECRYS-2005 proceeding

Momentum distribution of itinerant electrons in the one-dimensional Falicov-Kimball model

The momentum distribution $n_k$ of itinerant electrons in the one-dimensional Falicov-Kimball model is calculated for various ground-state phases. In particular, we examine the periodic phases with period two, three and four (that are ground-states for all Coulomb interactions) as well as the phase separated states (that are ground states for small Coulomb interactions). For all periodic phases examined the momentum distribution is a smooth function of $k$ with no sign of any discontinuity or singular behavior at the Fermi surface $k=k_F$. An unusual behavior of $n_k$ (a local maximum) is found at $k=3k_F$ for electron concentrations outside half-filling. For the phase separated ground states the momentum distribution $n_k$ exhibits discontinuity at $k=k_0 < k_F$. This behavior is interpreted in terms of a Fermi liquid.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, late

Wilson's renormalization group applied to 2D lattice electrons in the presence of van Hove singularities

The weak coupling instabilities of a two dimensional Fermi system are investigated for the case of a square lattice using a Wilson renormalization group scheme to one loop order. We focus on a situation where the Fermi surface passes through two saddle points of the single particle dispersion. In the case of perfect nesting, the dominant instability is a spin density wave but d-wave superconductivity as well as charge or spin flux phases are also obtained in certain regions in the space of coupling parameters. The low energy regime in the vicinity of these instabilities can be studied analytically. Although saddle points play a major role (through their large contribution to the single particle density of states), the presence of low energy excitations along the Fermi surface rather than at isolated points is crucial and leads to an asymptotic decoupling of the various instabilities. This suggests a more mean-field like picture of these instabilities, than the one recently established by numerical studies using discretized Fermi surfaces.Comment: gzipped tar file, 31 pages including 10 figures, minor correction of misprint

Incipient quantum melting of the one-dimensional Wigner lattice

A one--dimensional tight--binding model of electrons with long--range Coulomb interactions is studied in the limit where double site occupancy is forbidden and the Coulomb coupling strength $V$ is large with respect to the hopping amplitude $t$. The quantum problem of a kink--antikink pair generated in the Wigner lattice (the classical ground state for $t=0$) is solved for fillings $n=1/s$, where $s$ is an integer larger than 1. The pair energy becomes negative for a relatively high value of $V$, $V_c/t\approx s^3$. This signals the initial stage of the quantum melting of the Wigner lattice

Superconductivity in the Repulsive Hubbard Model

The two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model has been investigated by a variety of methods, from small to largeU. Superconductivity with d-wave symmetry is consistently found close to half filling. After a brief review of the various methods a variational many-electron state is discussed in more detail. This trial state is a natural extension of the Gutzwiller ansatz and provides a substantial improvement thereo

Variational Wave Function for Generalized Wigner Lattices in One Dimension

We study a system of electrons on a one-dimensional lattice, interacting through the long range Coulomb forces, by means of a variational technique which is the strong coupling analog of the Gutzwiller approach. The problem is thus the quantum version of Hubbard's classical model of the generalized Wigner crystal [J. Hubbard, Phys. Rev. B 17, 494 (1978)]. The magnetic exchange energy arising from quantum fluctuations is calculated, and turns out to be smaller than the energy scale governing charge degrees of freedom. This approach could be relevant in insulating quasi-one-dimensional compounds where the long range Coulomb interactions are not screened. In these compounds charge order often appears at high temperatures and coexists with magnetic order at low temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, proceedings of ECRYS-200

Variational ground states of the two-dimensional Hubbard model

Recent refinements of analytical and numerical methods have improved our understanding of the ground-state phase diagram of the two-dimensional (2D) Hubbard model. Here we focus on variational approaches, but comparisons with both Quantum Cluster and Gaussian Monte Carlo methods are also made. Our own ansatz leads to an antiferromagnetic ground state at half filling with a slightly reduced staggered order parameter (as compared to simple mean-field theory). Away from half filling, we find d-wave superconductivity, but confined to densities where the Fermi surface passes through the antiferromagnetic zone boundary (if hopping between both nearest-neighbour and next-nearest-neighbour sites is considered). Our results agree surprisingly well with recent numerical studies using the Quantum Cluster method. An interesting trend is found by comparing gap parameters (antiferromagnetic or superconducting) obtained with different variational wave functions. They vary by an order of magnitude and thus cannot be taken as a characteristic energy scale. In contrast, the order parameter is much less sensitive to the degree of sophistication of the variational schemes, at least at and near half filling.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, to be published in New J. Phy

Superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in the two-dimensional Hubbard model: a variational study

A variational ground state of the repulsive Hubbard model on a square lattice is investigated numerically for an intermediate coupling strength (U = 8t) and for moderate sizes (from 6 x 6 to 10 x 10). Our ansatz is clearly superior to other widely used variational wave functions. The results for order parameters and correlation functions provide new insight for the antiferromagnetic state at half filling as well as strong evidence for a superconducting phase away from half filling.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Ground-state phase diagram of a half-filled one-dimensional extended Hubbard model

The density-matrix renormalization group is used to study the phase diagram of the one-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model with on-site (U) and nearest-neighbor (V) repulsion, and hopping t. A critical line V_c(U) approximately equal to U/2 separates a Mott insulating phase from a charge-density-wave phase. The formation of bound charge excitations for V > 2t changes the phase transition from continuous to first order at a tricritical point U_t = 3.7t, V_t=2t. A frustrating effective antiferromagnetic spin coupling induces a bond-order-wave phase on the critical line V_c(U) for U_t < U < 7-8 t.Comment: 4 pages (REVTEX 4), 3 EPS figures, shorter abstract, text and references modifie