Green's function

About: Green's function is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4978 publications have been published within this topic receiving 78866 citations. The topic is also known as: Green's functions.

New method for calculating the one-particle green's function with application to the electron-gas problem

Abstract: A set of successively more accurate self-consistent equations for the one-electron Green's function have been derived. They correspond to an expansion in a screened potential rather than the bare Coulomb potential. The first equation is adequate for many purposes. Each equation follows from the demand that a corresponding expression for the total energy be stationary with respect to variations in the Green's function. The main information to be obtained, besides the total energy, is one-particle-like excitation spectra, i.e., spectra characterized by the quantum numbers of a single particle. This includes the low-excitation spectra in metals as well as configurations in atoms, molecules, and solids with one electron outside or one electron missing from a closed-shell structure. In the latter cases we obtain an approximate description by a modified Hartree-Fock equation involving a "Coulomb hole" and a static screened potential in the exchange term. As an example, spectra of some atoms are discussed. To investigate the convergence of successive approximations for the Green's function, extensive calculations have been made for the electron gas at a range of metallic densities. The results are expressed in terms of quasiparticle energies E(k) and quasiparticle interactions f(k, k′). The very first approximation gives a good value for the magnitude of E(k). To estimate the derivative of E(k) we need both the first- and the second-order terms. The derivative, and thus the specific heat, is found to differ from the free-particle value by only a few percent. Our correction to the specific heat keeps the same sign down to the lowest alkali-metal densities, and is smaller than those obtained recently by Silverstein and by Rice. Our results for the paramagnetic susceptibility are unreliable in the alkali-metal-density region owing to poor convergence of the expansion for f. Besides the proof of a modified Luttinger-Ward-Klein variational principle and a related self-consistency idea, there is not much new in principle in this paper. The emphasis is on the development of a numerically manageable approximation scheme. (Less)

Electronic excitations: density-functional versus many-body Green's-function approaches

Abstract: Electronic excitations lie at the origin of most of the commonly measured spectra. However, the first-principles computation of excited states requires a larger effort than ground-state calculations, which can be very efficiently carried out within density-functional theory. On the other hand, two theoretical and computational tools have come to prominence for the description of electronic excitations. One of them, many-body perturbation theory, is based on a set of Green’s-function equations, starting with a one-electron propagator and considering the electron-hole Green’s function for the response. Key ingredients are the electron’s self-energy S and the electron-hole interaction. A good approximation for S is obtained with Hedin’s GW approach, using density-functional theory as a zero-order solution. First-principles GW calculations for real systems have been successfully carried out since the 1980s. Similarly, the electron-hole interaction is well described by the Bethe-Salpeter equation, via a functional derivative of S. An alternative approach to calculating electronic excitations is the time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT), which offers the important practical advantage of a dependence on density rather than on multivariable Green’s functions. This approach leads to a screening equation similar to the Bethe-Salpeter one, but with a two-point, rather than a four-point, interaction kernel. At present, the simple adiabatic local-density approximation has given promising results for finite systems, but has significant deficiencies in the description of absorption spectra in solids, leading to wrong excitation energies, the absence of bound excitonic states, and appreciable distortions of the spectral line shapes. The search for improved TDDFT potentials and kernels is hence a subject of increasing interest. It can be addressed within the framework of many-body perturbation theory: in fact, both the Green’s functions and the TDDFT approaches profit from mutual insight. This review compares the theoretical and practical aspects of the two approaches and their specific numerical implementations, and presents an overview of accomplishments and work in progress.

Green's-function approach to linear response in solids.

Abstract: We present a new scheme to study the linear response of crystals which combines the advantages of the dielectric-matrix and supercell (``direct'') approaches yet avoids many of their drawbacks. The numerical complexity of the algorithm is of the same order as that of a self-consistent calculation for the unperturbed system. The method is not restricted to local perturbations as the dielectric-matrix one nor to short wavelengths as the direct one. As an application, we calculate the long-wavelength optical phonons in Si and GaAs, both transverse and longitudinal, using norm-conserving pseudopotentials, and without any use of supercells.

Deterministic phase retrieval: a Green’s function solution

Abstract: Equations for the propagation of phase and irradiance are derived, and a Green’s function solution for the phase in terms of irradiance and perimeter phase values is given A measurement scheme is discussed, and the results of a numerical simulation are given Both circular and slit pupils are considered An appendix discusses the local validity of the parabolic-wave equation based on the factorized Helmholtz equation approach to the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld and Fresnel diffraction theories Expressions for the diffracted-wave field in the near-field region are given

Two-period green's function in statistical physics

Abstract: Various aspects of the application of Green's functions in statistical physics are reviewed, and the future applications of two-period functions (retarding and advancing) are analyzed. The principle properties of the two- period Green's function and their simplest application in irreversible process theory, in the theory of superconductors, in ferromagnetics, and in electron- lattice reactions in common metals and semiconductors are discussed. It is also shown that the causal Green's functions can be successfully replaced with retarding and advancing Green's functions in the analytical expansion of the complex plane. Statistical mechanics sometimes employs the Motsubara temperature Green's functions which are not related to time; however, they are less adaptable than the temperature-time Green's functions. (R.V.J.)