488 Ch.

8 Ferromagnetism in Hubbaxd Models

should be positive. The ferromagnetic ground state of the t‘ = t case results

from a constructive interference.
For t’ = -t, we have to pay attention to the +s which show connections
via t’. Configurations connected by + should be superposed with the same
sign. Fixing c(x1) > 0, let us try to find the sign of c(x2). Going clockwise
from XI to XZ, we get C(XZ)< 0. However, if we start counter-clockwise, we
get 4 x 2 ) > 0. Following different paths from x1 to xz leads to a destructive
interference.
There is a very easy way to check that the unambiguous requirement
sgn(c(x1)) = sgn(c(x2)) = sgn(c(x3)) must be associated with a high-spin
ground state. Then the ground state in the S” = 1/2 subspace must be ob-
tained by “stepping down” the S” = 3/2 ground state. X I , xz,and x 3 arise
from turning one spin down in the parent configuration 10 fff) and therefore
must have the same coefficient.
Problem 8.2.
a) The only geometrical symmetry of X 3 is the C 2 axis through the lattice
point 3. The one-particle eigenstates are (orbitally) non-degenerate, and can
be classified as either even or odd under the 7r-rotation.
The odd combination (11) - 12))/fl does not mix with 13) and is thus an
eigenstate, with the eigenvalue

A, = -tz . (8.58)

+
tl-type hopping mixes the even combination (11) 1 2 ) ) / 4 with (3). The 2 x 2
eigenvalue problem gives the roots

(8.59)

The ground state energy is either A, or ,A; depending on the size of l t l l / t Z .

We notice that tl appears only through ( t ~ ) i.e.,
~ , the sign of tl does not in-
fluence the spectrum. The reason is that changing the sign of tl is an invariance
property of the Hamiltonian: it can be effected by the canonical transformation
~3~ + -csO, cgat + -ciO (the other operators remain unchanged). Henceforth
we fix tl > 0.
At U = 0, the two-electron ground state is obtained by filling the lowest
level with two electrons: this gives a singlet ground state which is separated
by a finite gap from the lowest-lying triplet. Thus there is no reason to expect
ferromagnetism in the weak-coupling limit. The special case tl = t z , €3 = 0
is a notable exception. For t 2 > 0, the one-particle ground state is twofold
degenerate48, thus the two-electron ground state can be chosen either as a

48This has a symmetry reason: tl = tz, €3 = 0 restores the cyclic symmetry