Electron localization in a one-dimensional nanoscopic system: A combined exact diagonalization–anab initioapproach

Abstract

Exact ground-state properties are presented by combining the diagonalization in the Fock space (and taking all hopping integrals and all two-site interactions) with the ab initio optimization of the Wannier functions. Electrons are essentially localized for the interatomic distance R~2A for s-like states, when the quasiparticle mass is divergent. The momentum distribution dispersion is proposed to define the localization order parameter. Dimerization and zero-point energies are also discussed. The method provides convergent results for N>=8 atoms.