Recent Numerical Renormalization Group Research Articles

Self-consistent description of Andreev bound states in Josephson quantum dot devices

We develop a general perturbative framework based on a superconducting atomic limit for the description of Andreev bound states (ABS) in interacting quantum dots connected to superconducting leads. A local effective Hamiltonian for dressed ABS, including both the atomic (or molecular) levels and the induced proximity effect on the dot is argued to be a natural starting point. A self-consistent expansion in single-particle tunneling events is shown to provide accurate results even in regimes where the superconducting gap is smaller than the atomic energies, as demonstrated by a comparison to recent numerical renormalization group calculations. This simple formulation may have bearings for interpreting Andreev spectroscopic experiments in superconducting devices, such as scanning tunnel microscope measurements on carbon nanotubes or radiative emission in optical quantum dots.

Field-dependent dynamics of the Anderson impurity model

Single-particle dynamics of the Anderson impurity model in the presence of a magnetic field H are considered, using a recently developed local moment approach that encompasses all energy scales, field and interaction strengths. For strong coupling in particular, the Kondo scaling regime is recovered. Here the frequency (ω/ωK) and field (H/ωK) dependence of the resultant universal scaling spectrum is obtained in large part analytically, and the field-induced destruction of the Kondo resonance investigated. The scaling spectrum is found to exhibit the slow logarithmic tails recently shown to dominate the zero-field scaling spectrum. At the opposite extreme of the Fermi level, it gives asymptotically exact agreement with results for statics known from the Bethe ansatz. Good agreement is also found with the frequency and field-dependence of recent numerical renormalization group calculations. Differential conductance experiments on quantum dots in the presence of a magnetic field are likewise considered, and appear to be well accounted for by the theory. Some new exact results for the problem are also established.

A local moment approach to magnetic impurities in gapless Fermi systems

A local moment approach is developed for single-particle excitations of a symmetric Anderson impurity model (AIM) with a soft-gap hybridization vanishing at the Fermi level: I||r, with r>0. Local moments are introduced explicitly from the outset, and a two-self-energy description is employed in which single-particle excitations are coupled dynamically to low-energy transverse spin fluctuations. The resultant theory is applicable on all energy scales, and captures both the spin-fluctuation regime of strong coupling (large U), as well as the weak-coupling regime where it is perturbatively exact for those r-domains in which perturbation theory in U is non-singular. While the primary emphasis is on single-particle dynamics, the quantum phase transition between strong-coupling (SC) and local moment (LM) phases can also be addressed directly; for the spin-fluctuation regime in particular a number of asymptotically exact results are thereby obtained, notably for the behaviour of the critical Uc(r) separating SC/LM states and the Kondo scale m(r) characteristic of the SC phase. Results for both single-particle spectra and SC/LM phase boundaries are found to agree well with recent numerical renormalization group (NRG) studies; and a number of further testable predictions are made. Single-particle spectra are examined systematically for both SC and LM states; in particular, for all 0 r<½, spectra characteristic of the SC state are predicted to exhibit an r-dependent universal scaling form as the SC/LM phase boundary is approached and the Kondo scale vanishes. Results for the `normal' r = 0 AIM are moreover recovered smoothly from the limit r0, where the resultant description of single-particle dynamics includes recovery of Doniach-Sunjic tails in the wings of the Kondo resonance, as well as characteristic low-energy Fermi liquid behaviour and the exponential diminution with U of the Kondo scale itself. The normal AIM is found to represent a particular case of more generic behaviour characteristic of the r>0 SC phase which, in agreement with conclusions drawn from recent NRG work, may be viewed as a non-trivial but natural generalization of Fermi liquid physics.

“Linearized” dynamical mean-field theory for the Mott-Hubbard transition

The Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transition is studied within a simplified version of the Dynamical Mean-Field Theory (DMFT) in which the coupling between the impurity level and the conduction band is approximated by a single pole at the Fermi energy. In this approach, the DMFT equations are linearized, and the value for the critical Coulomb repulsion U_{\rm c} can be calculated analytically. For the symmetric single-band Hubbard model at zero temperature, the critical value is found to be given by 6 times the square root of the second moment of the free (U=0) density of states. This result is in good agreement with the numerical value obtained from the Projective Selfconsistent Method and recent Numerical Renormalization Group calculations for the Bethe and the hypercubic lattice in infinite dimensions. The generalization to more complicated lattices is discussed. The ``linearized DMFT'' yields plausible results for the complete geometry dependence of the critical interaction.

Low-energy fixed points of the σ-τ and the O(3) symmetric Anderson models

We study the single channel (compactified) models, the sigma-tau model and the O(3) symmetric Anderson model, which were introduced by Coleman et al., and Coleman and Schofield, as a simplified way to understand the low energy behaviour of the isotropic and anisotropic two channel Kondo systems. These models display both Fermi liquid and marginal Fermi liquid behaviour and an understanding of the nature of their low energy fixed points may give some general insights into the low energy behaviour of other strongly correlated systems. We calculate the excitation spectrum at the non-Fermi liquid fixed point of the sigma-tau model using conformal field theory, and show that the results are in agreement with those obtained in recent numerical renormalization group (NRG) calculations. For the O(3) Anderson model we find further logarithmic corrections in the weak coupling perturbation expansion to those obtained in earlier calculations, such that the renormalized interaction term now becomes marginally stable rather than marginally unstable. We derive a Ward identity and a renormalized form of the perturbation theory that encompasses both the weak and strong coupling regimes and show that the chi/gamma ratio is 8/3 (chi is the total susceptibility, spin plus isospin), independent of the interaction U and in agreement with the NRG calculations.

Ground State and Staggered Susceptibility of the Two-Impurity Problem

We study the two-impurity Anderson model by the exact diagonalization method in small systems and the variational method. With varying of the exchange coupling J between two impurities, we evaluate the staggered susceptibility χ s to investigate the competition between the Kondo effect and the RKKY interaction effect. The staggered susceptibility in our calculations shows no anomalous behavior in contrast to the recent numerical renormalization group calculations. In order to study this further, we introduce the even-parity-mixing Anderson model. This model appears to show singularities in χ s and the ground-state energy at a point J = J c . We show that at this point, the ground state changes suddenly; the localized spins form a triplet for J J c . In the original two-impurity Anderson model, a crossover occurs around J c without singularity.

The magnetic-nonmagnetic transition of impurities in metals within the selfconsistent relaxation function approximation scheme

The selfconsistent relaxation function approximation scheme due to Götze and Schlottmann is extended to the symmetric Anderson model in order to calculate the dynamic and static longitudinal d-spin susceptibility. The static zero-field susceptibility varies smoothly between magnetic Curie law and Pauli paramagnetism. Although our numerical results agree well with two-variable functional integral schemes and describe the complete magnetic-nonmagnetic transition regime the picture is a qualitative one when compared with recent numerical renormalization group calculations.