Lecture XVII 49

Lecture XVII: Weakly Interacting Electron Gas: Plasma Theory

How are the properties of an electron gas inuenced by weak Coulomb interaction?
Qualitative considerations:
When is the intereaction weak? Dening r
0
=
1
n
1/3
as the average electron separation,
the typical p.e.
e
2
r
0
and k.e.

2
mr
0
lead to the dimensionless ratio, r
s
=
e
2
r
0
mr
2
0

2

r
0
a
0
, where
a
0
is electron Bohr radius, from which one can infer that Coulomb eects dominate at
low density
At r
s
35 there is (believed to be) a transition to an electron solid phase
known as a Wigner crystal (cf. Mott-Hubbard insulator)
For most metals (2 < r
s
< 6), k.e. and p.e. comparable; fortunately (thanks to
adiabatic continuity) weak coupling theory valid even for intermediate r
s
Motivates consideration of weak coupling theory r
s
1: -convention on spin

H =
_
d
d
r c

(r)
p
2
2m
c

(r) +
1
2
_
d
d
r
_
d
d
r

(r)c

(r

)
e
2
|r r

|
c

(r

)c

(r)
Aim: to explore dielectric properties and ground state energy of electron gas through...
Quantum partition function: using CSPI formulation
Z tr e
(

H

N)
=
_

(0)=

()
(0)=()
D(

)e
S[

,]
S[

] =
_

0
d
__
d
d
r

(r, )
_

+
p
2
2m

_

(r, )
+
1
2
_
d
d
r
_
d
d
r

(r, )

(r

, )
e
2
|r r

(r

, )

(r, )
_
Expressed in Fourier basis:

(r, ) =
1
_
L
3

k,n
e
i(krn)

k,n,
S =
_

0
d
_

k
() (

+
k
)
k
() +
1
2L
d

q=0
4e
2
q
2

q
()
q
()
_
where
k
=

2
k
2
2m
and
q
() =
_
d
d
r e
iqr
(r, )

k
()
k+q,
()
(N.B. neutralising background exclusion of q = 0 from sum)
With the action quartic in fermionic elds , Z can not be evaluated exactly
For weak interaction, r
s
1, we could expand in Coulomb interaction:
Feynman diagram expansion (cf. Gell-MannBr uckner theory)
Lecture Notes October 2005
Lecture XVII 50
Alternative use eld integral to isolate leading diagrammatic series expansion
known as the Random Phase Approximation (RPA)
General principle:
When confronted with interacting eld theory, seek decomposition of interaction
through introduction of auxiliary eld which captures low-energy content of theory
In some cases, these elds are identied with the elementary particles that mediate
the interaction (see below); in others, these elds encode the low-energy collective modes
of the system (e.g. superuid, superconductor)
Decoupling facilitated using the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation:
e

0
d
P
q=0
2e
2
L
d
q
2
q()
q
()
=
_
D e

0
d
P
q=0

q
2
8
q()
q
()+
ie
2L
d/2
(q()
q
()+q()
q
())

Physically, represents (scalar) photon eld which mediates Coulomb interaction

N.B. real and periodic ( + ) = ()
Z =
_
D(

)
_
D exp
_

_

0
d
_
d
d
r
_
1
8
()
2
+

+
p
2
2m
+ ie
_

__
Gaussian in Grassmann elds, eld integral may be performed:
using identity
_
D[

, ] exp[

M] = detM = exp[ln detM]

Z =
_
D exp
_

_

0
d
_
d
d
r
1
8
()
2
+
spin
..
2 ln det
_

+
p
2
2m
+ ie
_
_
Setting e = 0, photon eld decouples from determinant;
recovers partition function of non-interacting electron gas
Perturbation Theory in e:
Dene free particle Green function:

G
0
= [

+
p
2
2m
]
1
and expand:
ln(1 + x) =

n=1
(x)
n
/n
lndet
_

+
p
2
2m
+ ie
_
tr ln
_

G
1
0
+ ie
_
= tr ln

G
1
0
+ tr ln
_
1 + ie

G
0

_
= tr ln

G
1
0
tr
_
ie

G
0
+
1
2
_
ie

G
0

_
2
+
_
First order term: for convenience, set k (k,
n
), etc.
2tr[

G
0
] = 2

k
G
0
(k)
..
k|

G
0
|k
1
_
L
3

k=0
..
k||k =
2
_
L
3

k
1
i
n
+
k

0
= 0
Lecture Notes October 2005
Lecture XVII 51

0
= 0 due to neutralising background
Second order term:
2
e
2
2
tr[

G
0
]
2
= e
2

k,q
G
0
(k)
..
k|

G
0
|k
1
_
L
3

q
..
k||k + q
G
0
(k + q)
..
k + q|

G
0
|k + q
1
_
L
3

q
..
k + q||k=
e
2
2

q
(q)
q

q
where density-density response function,
(q) =
2
L
3

k
1
i
n
+
k

1
i
n
i
m
+
k+q

Combined with bare term, to leading order in e

2
(Random Phase Approximation),
Z = Z
0
_
D e
S[]
, S[] =
1
2

q
D
1
(q)
..
_
q
2
4
e
2
(q)
_
|
q
|
2
+ O(e
4
)
Z
0
denotes partition function of non-interacting gas
Physically, D
1
(q) denotes dynamically screened Coulomb interaction
D
1
(q) = (q)
q
2
4
, (q) = 1
4e
2
q
2
(q)
where (q) is the energy and momentum dependent eective dielectric function
m
q,
4e
2
q
2
k,
n

n
+
+ k+q,

m
q, ( )
=
- 1

m
q,
=
=
+
+ ...
+
Diagrammatic interpretation:
D(q) =
4
q
2
1
1
4e
2
q
2
(q)
=
4
q
2

n=0
_
e
2
(q)
4
q
2
_
n
Lecture Notes October 2005