Extension of the second random-phase approximation

Abstract

The second random-phase approximation (SRPA) is the simplest and most natural extension of the RPA. It enlarges the space of the elementary modes introduced to describe the collective states by adding 2 particle -2 hole excitations to the 1 particle -1 hole ones of the RPA. In deriving the SRPA equations, use is made, as in the RPA, of the so-called quasi-boson approximation (QBA) where expectation values in the ground state of the system are approximated by their values in the uncorrelated reference state. This, however, has been shown to imply a degree of approximation worse than that in the RPA. It is, therefore, necessary to improve the QBA by considering a reference state which contains some correlations. Having in mind to perform such calculations for realistic systems, we consider a simple extension of the SRPA in which the reference state contains 2 particle - 2 hole correlations. The quality of such an extension is tested by applying it to a solvable three-level model and found to be good.