On the instabilities of the one-dimensional interacting electron gas

Abstract

The model Hamiltonian of the one-dimensional electron gas with different types of interaction (forward and backward scattering, Umklapp processes) is studied by assuming a sharp bandwidth cut-off. Exact equalities among different response functions are obtained for specific values of coupling constants from simple symmetry considerations. The ground-state energy derived in mean-field approximation and the asymptotic behaviour of response functions as calculated by various authors are discussed with respect to these exact relations. The agreement of phase diagrams as obtained with different methods is traced back to the underlying symmetry. Giving up this symmetry, e.g. by assuming different cut-offs above and below the Fermi energy, changes the phase diagram. Furthermore this allows one to construct a mean-field ground state where superconductivity and density waves coexist in a finite region of coupling space. If the electron-phonon interaction is also taken into account it follows that the charge-density wave instability (together with a periodic lattice distortion) is favoured.