Correlation functions for interacting fermions in the Gutzwiller ansatz.

Abstract

We make use of a recently developed diagrammatic theory to calculate correlation functions for interacting fermions of Hubbard-type models in terms of the Gutzwiller wave function. Of the eleven nontrivial correlation functions involving the spin, density, empty and doubly occupied sites, and local Cooper pairs, four are shown to be independent. They are expressed as a power series in a suitably chosen correlation parameter, whose terms are represented diagrammatically. In one dimension these terms may be evaluated to arbitrary order by employing symmetry relations. This allows for an analytic, approximation-free calculation of the correlation functions for arbitrary momentum, particle density, and interaction strength. In the atomic limit the momentum-dependent spin-correlation function shows an antiferromagnetic divergence at half filling in all dimensions. In one dimension the behavior is in very good agreement with all exact analytic and numerical results for the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain. Hole-hole correlations also compare very well with exact results. However, correlations between holes and doubly occupied sites appear insufficient. Superconducting correlations involving on-site, singlet Cooper pairs are suppressed. The results allow for an analytic evaluation of the ground-state energy of a large class of extended Hubbard models in terms of the Gutzwiller wave function. Thus they provide exact upper bounds for their ground-state energies.