Abstract
Density functional and quantum Monte Carlo methods are used to examine thebehaviour of the many-electron localization length near band insulator-to-metaltransitions in various one- and two-dimensional model systems. The many-electronlocalization length is infinite in metals and finite in insulators, and is normallyassumed to diverge as an insulator-to-metal transition is approached from theinsulating side. Our results show that this is not the case: the band insulator-to-metaltransition is normally first order and not associated with a diverging length scale. Wealso identify examples where the localization length diverges but the system isinsulating on both sides of the divergence. The usefulness of the localization lengthas an indicator of the approach of an insulator-to-metal transition is thereforelimited. A comparison of our quantum Monte Carlo and density functional resultsallows us to draw some general conclusions about the effect of correlation onlocalization.
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