Two interacting particles in a disordered chain III: Dynamical aspects of the interplay disorder-interaction

The interplay between the quantum interferences responsible for one particle localization over a length L₁, and the partial dephasing induced by a local interaction of strength U with another particle leading to partial delocalization over a length L ₂ > L ₁ , is illustrated by a study of the motion of two particles put close to each other at the initial time. Localization is reached in two steps. First, before the time t₁ necessary to propagate over L₁, the interaction slows down the ballistic motion. On the contrary, after t₁ the interaction favors a very slow delocalization, characterized by a spreading of the center of mass, until L₂ is reached. This slow motion is related to the absence of quantum chaos in this one dimensional model, the interaction being only able to induce weaker chaos with critical spectral statistics. Under appropriate initial conditions, the motion remains invariant under the duality transformation mapping the behavior at small U onto the behavior at large U. Received 24 August 1998     

Two interacting particles in a disordered chain IV: Scaling of level curvatures

The curvatures of two-particle energy levels with respect to the enclosed magnetic flux in mesoscopic disordered rings are investigated numerically. We find that the typical value of the curvatures is increased by interactions in the localised regime and decreased in the metallic regime. This confirms a prediction by Akkermans and Pichard (Eur. Phys. J. B 1, 223 (1998)). The interaction-induced changes of the typical curvatures at different energies and disorder strengths exhibit one-parameter scaling with a conductance-like single parameter. This suggests that interactions could influence the conductance of mesoscopic systems similarly. Received 24 August 1998     

Additional symmetry for the electronic shell in its ground state and many-electron effects

The additional symmetry for the properties related to the ground state of the atom is considered taking into account many-electron effects. Calculations of the I _4f, I _3d,I _2p,I _3p binding energies, 4f ^N-15d - 4f^N system differences and 2p, 3p electron affinities in the second order of perturbation theory and in the configuration interaction approximation have been performed for the ground configurations with one open shell. The analysis of separate many-electron corrections for these quantities and their variation along the sequences of atoms and ions shows that the main corrections maintain the considered symmetry. Received 18 January 1999 and Received in final form 17 July 1999     

Melting of a Wigner crystal in an ionic dielectric

The melting of a Wigner Crystal of electrons placed into a host polar material is examined as a function of the density and the temperature. When the coupling to the longitudinal optical modes of the host medium is turned on, the WC is progressively transformed into a polaronic Wigner crystal. We estimate the critical density for crystal melting at zero temperature using the Lindeman criterion. We show that above a certain critical value of the Fr?hlich electron-phonon coupling, the melting towards a quantum liquid of polarons is not possible, and the insulator-to-metal transition is driven by the ionization of the polarons (polaron dissociation). The phase diagram at finite temperature is obtained by making use of the same Lindeman criterion. Results are also provided in the case of an anisotropic electron band mass, showing that the scenario of polaron dissociation can be relevant in anisotropic compounds such as the superconducting cuprates at rather moderate e-ph couplings. Received 13 August 1999     

Structure of the Hilbert-space of the infinite-dimensional Hubbard model

An iterative procedure for the explicit construction of the nontrivial subspace of all symmetry-adapted configurations with non-zero weight in the ground-state of the -dimensional Hubbard model is developed on the basis of a symmetrized representation of the transition operators on a sequence of Bethe-Lattices of finite depth. The relationship between these operators and the well-known mapping of the -dimensional Hubbard model onto an effective impurity problem coupled to a (self-consistent) bath on non-interacting electrons is given. As an application we calculate the properties of various Hubbard stars and give estimates for the half-filled Hubbard model with up to accuracy. Received 22 June 1998     

Interaction versus dimerization in one-dimensional Fermi systems

In order to study the effect of interaction and lattice distortion on quantum coherence in one-dimensional Fermi systems, we calculate the ground state energy and the phase sensitivity of a ring of interacting spinless fermions on a dimerized lattice. Our numerical DMRG studies, in which we keep up to 1000 states for systems of about 100 sites, are supplemented by analytical considerations using bosonization techniques. We find a delocalized phase for an attractive interaction, which differs from that obtained for random lattice distortions. The extension of this delocalized phase depends strongly on the dimerization induced modification of the interaction. Taking into account the harmonic lattice energy, we find a dimerized ground state for a repulsive interaction only. The dimerization is suppressed at half filling, when the correlation gap becomes large. Received: 11 February 1998 / Revised: 1st April 1998 / Accepted: 30 April 1998     

Geometrical derivation of a new ground state formula for the n-electron Friedel resonance model

The n-electron ground state of the Friedel resonance model can be written as a single Slater determinant of n s-electrons plus d-electron-s-hole companion. This new formula is derived geometrically in the Hilbert space. The derivation uses the fact that a n-electron Slater determinant, built from N band states, corresponds to a n-dimensional subspace in the N-dimensional Hilbert space. Received: 4 November 1997 / Accepted: 19 November 1997     

Dynamics and effective actions of BCS superconductors

We derive the effective dynamical theory for BCS superconductors, based on the effective action formalism. Both the metallic regime and the superconducting regime are studied in the clean and dirty limit. The full electrodynamics of the problem is formulated in a manifestly gauge-invariant and transparent way. Furthermore, we consider the effect of particle-hole asymmetry in the band structure, and discuss its consequences for vortex dynamics and the topological term in the effective action. The effective action is the starting point for treating (quantum-) dynamical problems involving BCS superconductors. Received 23 November 1998     

Quantum charge density fluctuations and the phase transition in Ce

We have calculated the quantum quadrupolar interaction due to charge density fluctuations of localized 4f-electrons in Ce by taking into account the angular dependence, the degeneracy of the localized 4f -orbitals and the spin-orbit coupling. The calculated crystal field of 4 f electronic states is in good agreement with neutron diffraction measurements. We show that orientational ordering of quantum quadrupoles drives a phase transition at K which we assign with the transformation. In the phase the centers of mass of the Ce atoms still form a face centered cubic lattice. The theory accounts for the first order character of the transition and for the cubic lattice contraction which accompanies the transition. The transition temperature increases linearly with pressure. Our approach does not involve Kondo spin fluctuations as the significant process for the phase transition. Received 19 October 1998     

The and transitions in the oxygen isoelectronic sequence

Multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock results are reported for the and transitions in the oxygen-like sequence for Z =9,...,18. Both transition energies and transition rates are included. Received: 29 June 1998 / Accepted: 1st July 1998     

Quantum scattering in the strip: From ballistic to localized regimes

Quantum scattering is studied in a system consisting of randomly distributed point scatterers in the strip. The model is continuous yet exactly solvable. Varying the number of scatterers (the sample length) we investigate a transition between the ballistic and the localized regimes. By considering the cylinder geometry and introducing the magnetic flux we are able to study time reversal symmetry breaking in the system. Both macroscopic (conductance) and microscopic (eigenphases distribution, statistics of S-matrix elements) characteristics of the system are examined. Received: 28 January 1998 / Revised: 16 June 1998 / Accepted: 6 July 1998     

Periodic orbits of the hydrogen molecular ion

Based on our previous work [Yiwu Duan, J.M. Yuan, C.G. Bao, Phys. Rev. A 52, 3497 (1995)], we study deeply the periodic orbits of the hydrogen molecular ion within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation (BOA). The Thiele-Burrau's transformation is introduced to regularize the singularities associated with the Coulomb potential terms and to transform the problem into a direct product of a pendulum and an anharmonic oscillator. This facilitates the analysis of the bifurcation properties of the periodic orbits. Some more details are also given about the calculation of the semiclassical density-of-state distribution using the Berry-Tabor formula. Received: 5 February 1999     

Electric quadrupole interactions and the γ–α phase transition in Ce: the role of conduction electrons

We present a theoretical model of the “isostructural" - phase transition in Ce which is based on quadrupolar interactions due to coupled charge density fluctuations of 4f electrons and of conduction electrons. The latter are treated in tight-binding approximation. The - transition is described as an orientational ordering of quadrupolar electronic densities in a structure. The quadrupolar order of the conduction electron densities is complementary to the quadrupolar order of 4f electron densities. The inclusion of conduction electrons leads to an increase of the lattice contraction at the - transition in comparison to the sole effect of 4f electrons. We calculate the Bragg scattering law and suggest synchrotron radiation experiments in order to check the structure. Received 21 September 1999 and Received in final form 2 May 2000     

Charge transfers in complex transition metal alloys ()

We introduce a new Non-Orthogonal Tight-Binding model, for complex alloys, in which electronic structure is characterized by charge transfers. We give the analytic calculation of a charge transfer, in which overlapping two-center terms are rigorously taken into account. Then, we apply numerically this result to an approximant phase of a quasicrystal of alloy. This model is more particularly adapted to transition metals, and gives realistic densities of states. Received: 7 July 1997 / Revised: 10 March 1998 / Accepted: 3 April 1998     

Superconductivity in weakly correlated electron systems

We study the influence of the short-ranged Hubbard correlation U between the conduction electrons on the Cooper pair formation in normal (s-wave) superconductors. The Coulomb correlation is considered within the standard second order perturbation theory, which becomes exact in the weak coupling limit but goes beyond the simple Hartree-Fock treatment by yielding a finite lifetime of the quasiparticles at finite temperature. An attractive pairing interaction V, which may be mediated by the standard electron-phonon mechanism, is considered between nearest neighbor sites. A critical value for the attractive interaction is required to obtain a superconducting state. For finite temperature a gapless superconductivity is obtained due to the finite lifetime of the quasiparticles, i.e. the Coulomb correlation has a pair-breaking influence. The energy gap and depend very sensitively on U, V and band filling n and develop a maximum away from half filling as function of n. The ratio varies with n, being higher than the BCS value near half filling and reaching the BCS value for lower n. Received 17 February 1999     

Electron-pair densities of group 2 atoms in their and terms

Electron-pair intracule (relative motion) and extracule (center-of-mass motion) densities are studied in both position and momentum spaces for the ¹ P and ³ P terms of the group 2 atoms Be (atomic number Z =4), Mg (Z =12), Ca (Z =20), Sr (Z =38), Ba (Z =56), and Ra (Z =88). In position space, the ¹ P - ³ P difference in the intracule densities shows that the probability of a small interelectronic distance is larger in the triplet for all the six atoms, as reported for the lightest Be atom in the literature. The position-space extracule density clarifies that the triplet electrons are more likely to be at opposite positions with respect to the nucleus than the singlet electrons for all the atoms. In momentum space, the singlet generally has a larger probability of a small relative momentum between two electrons as a na?ve manifestation of the Fermi hole in the triplet. The extracule density in momentum space shows that the ¹ P term has a distribution larger in a large center-of-mass momentum region than the ³ P term. Received: 26 August 1998 / Received in final form: 1 February 1999     

Self-consistent electronic structure of quantum wells by invariant embedding method

A new approach based on the invariant embedding method for the self-consistent calculation of electronic structure of quantum wells is presented and is applied to both neutral quantum well and parabolic quantum well. Numerical results obtained for these structures agree very well with those of previous theoretical and experiment studies. The present approach is expected to lead to a more efficient and stable scheme for the calculation of electronic band structure of quantum structures. Realistic boundary conditions are naturally taken into account in the present calculation which provides a convenient way for studying boundary effects. Received 21 September     

Lifetimes of metastable states in Sr II

The lifetimes of the 4d ²D _3/2,5/2 levels of Sr⁺ have been determined both experimentally and theoretically. The experiment was performed at an ion storage ring utilising collinear laser excitation. The calculation was performed by the Hartree-Fock method including relativistic effects and core polarisation. The obtained lifetimes (which are about 0.4 s) are discussed in detail and compared with earlier published results. In addition, calculated lifetimes of a large number of excited states in Sr⁺ are included. Received 15 February 2000 and Received in final form 20 March 2000     

Introduction of quantum finite-size effects in the Mie's theory for a multilayered metal sphere in the dipolar approximation: Application to free and matrix-embedded noble metal clusters

A mixed classical/quantum model for calculating the optical response of free and matrix-embedded multilayered metal spheres in the dipolar approximation is presented. The conduction electrons are quantum-mechanically treated in the framework of the time-dependent local-density-approximation formalism (TDLDA), whereas the surrounding matrix, the ionic metal backgrounds and the non-metallic materials are classically described through homogeneous charge distributions or/and dielectric media. Except for the TDLDA calculations, the present formalism is completely analytical and can be applied to coated spheres with any number of metal or dielectric layers. Contrary to the previous TDLDA-based models involving an inner or/and an outer dielectric medium (one or two interfaces), all the dielectric effects (screening and absorption) are self-consistently calculated. In particular, the interband transitions and the mutual interplay between the conduction and core electrons are self-consistently treated. The deficiencies of the previous models are analyzed, and the results are compared with the classical Mie's theory, over the entire spectral range. The building-up of the classical absorption spectrum, consisting of the surface plasmon resonance and the interband transitions, is clearly observed as the cluster size increases. Received 15 March 1999 and Received in final form 11 October 1999     

Coulomb repulsion versus Hubbard repulsion in a disordered chain

We study the difference between on site Hubbard and long range Coulomb repulsions for two interacting particles in a disordered chain. The system size L (in units of the lattice spacing) is of the order of the one particle localization length and the energies are taken near the band center. In the two cases, the limits of weak and strong interactions are characterized by uncorrelated energy levels and are separated by a crossover regime where the states are more extended and the spectra more rigid. U denoting the interaction strength and t the kinetic energy scale, the crossovers take place for interaction energy to kinetic energy ratios U/t and U/(2tL) of order one, for Hubbard and Coulomb repulsions respectively. While Hubbard repulsion can only yield weak critical chaos with intermediate spectral statistics, Coulomb repulsion can drive the two particle system to quantum chaos with Wigner-Dyson spectral statistics. The interaction matrix elements are studied to explain this difference. Received 21 March 2000 and Received in final form 5 February 2001