Tutorials 2018–2019

M2 ICFP
Theoretical Condensed Matter
B. Douçot, B.Estienne, L. Messio

Problem: The Jordan Wigner transformation

At first glance spin models may seem more difficult to solve than fermionic or bosonic ones, as the
commutation relations of spin operators are more involved than those of bosonic or fermionic operators.
Thus, it is quite tempting to map a spin model to a fermionic or bosonic model. While this is straightforward
for an isolated spin 1/2 (see Sec. 1), it is more tricky when several spins are involved. Jordan and Wigner
proposed such a transformation with fermions on a 1D chain (see Sec. 2). The resulting model can then be
solved using the bosonization technique (see Sec. 3).
The spin vector operator on site i is Si , of components Six , Siy and Siz . A spin 1/2 state is represented
by a two dimensional vector (we chose z as the quantization axis, as is usually done, and denote by |↑i, |↓i
the corresponding basis) and the spin component operators are given by the Pauli matrices Siα = 12 σα
     
0 1 0 −i 1 0
σx = σy = σz = . (1)
1 0 i 0 0 −1

We define the S + and S − operators that increase or decrease S z by one:

S + = Sx + iSy ,
S − = Sx − iSy .

1 Mapping for a single site

1. We define the fermionic operator f † = S + . The idea is that a site has only two states both in spin
and fermionic representation : it is either occupied/up (f † |0i ↔ | ↑i) or empty/down (|0i ↔ | ↓i).
What is the expression of Sx , Sy in terms of fermionic operators ? Deduce the expression of Sz from
Sx and Sy .

2. Are the spin commutation relations respected ? What is the anticommutator {S + , S − } ? Is it com-
patible with the fermionic expression ?

2 Mapping for a 1D chain

So far we have a mapping between spin operators and fermionic operators, on a single site. Spin and
fermionic operators Si and fi† now have a site index i. We consider an antiferromagnetic periodic chain with
N atoms of spin 1/2 with nearest neighbor anisotropic interactions:
N −1
+ Siy Si+1
y
X
H=J (Six Si+1
x
+ ∆Siz Si+1
z
). (2)
i=0

J is a positive energy and ∆ ≥ P

0 characterizes the anisotropy (for ∆ = 1, we recover the SU(2) symmetric
Heisenberg Hamiltonian H = J i Si · Si+1 ). We assume periodic boundary conditions (SN = S0 ).

3. What is the issue with the previous mapping when several sites are involved ?

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4. We chose a basis of states that are eigenvectors of all the Siz . A basis spin state with p up spins
is labelled by their positions i1 , i2 , . . . ip (with ij < ij+1 ): |i1 , i2 , . . . , ip i = Si+1 . . . Si+p | ↓↓ . . . ↓i. It
corresponds to a fermionic state with p particles where the ij sites are filled: fi†1 fi†2 . . . fi†p |0i (up to a
phase factor that we fix to 1 for ordered ij ’s). Show that

Sj+ |i1 , i2 , . . . , ip i ↔ (−1)k fj† fi†1 fi†2 . . . fi†p |0i,

where k is the integer such that ik ≤ j < ik+1 . We want to obtain an expression of Sj+ in terms of
fermionic operators leading to correct anticommutation and commutation relations. Check that the
following mapping does the trick:
Pj−1 Pj−1
np † np †
Sj+ = eiπ p=0 fj = (−1) p=0 fj .

5. The exponential operator is known as a string operator. Check that its presence does no spoil the
on-site commutation relations [Sia , Sib ] = iabc Sic .

6. Check that spin operators (expressed in terms of fermionic operators) at different sites now commute,
as they should.
z =
P z
7. We suppose that Stot i Si is conserved (it is the case for the Hamiltonian Eq. (2)). Thus, we can
work in the subspace of states with fixed Stotz . What does it imply for the fermionic states ? What

boundary condition must we impose on the fermionic operators to recover the periodic boundary
conditions for the spins in such a subspace ?

8. Rewrite the anisotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian of Eq. (2) in terms of fermionic operators. Be cautious
for the term Sjα Sj+1
α for j = N − 1.

9. In which case can we exactly and easily solve it ?

10. We suppose from now that the number of sites N is even (N = 2N 0 ) and that ∆ = 0. Show that the
eigenstates are Slater determinants of plane waves. What are then the allowed wave vectors ?

11. Show that for each value of p, the ground state is unique. What is the value of p that minimizes the
energy ? What is the corresponding S z value ? What do you think about that ?

12. What are the correlations hSjz S0z i (density-density) for Jz = 0 and j 6= 0 in the ground state ? What
are they in the thermodynamic limit, for fixed j ?
x S x + S y S y i. Up to a
We would now like to calculate the correlation functions in the xy plane: hSm n m n
+ S − + S − S + i.
factor 1/2, this is equal to hSm n m n

13. We suppose that m < n. We have:

P
+ − †
Sm Sn = fm fn eiπ m≤j<n nj
.
†
Start by calculating hfm fn i in the ground state.
P
The difficulty to calculate hSm+ S − + S − S + i comes from the string operator eiπ m≤j<n nj
. Below, we
n m n
will see how to calculate it in the thermodynamic limit, using bosonization.

3 Bosonization
Bosonization is a mapping between system of interacting fermions in (1+1) dimensions and a system
of massless, non-interacting bosons. While bosonization is an approximation in finite size, it becomes
exact in the continuum (i.e. at low energies and long wave-lengths).

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3.1 Continuum limit

Before taking the thermodynamic limit, we first re-introduce the lattice spacing a, so that sites are
located at positions x = ja, and the total chain length is L = N a. Correspondingly the momentum
is now Q = ka , where k is the previous momentum for a = 1. The thermodynamic limit is obtained
by taking a → 0 (or equivalently N → ∞), keeping L constant. The relevant momenta values in this
π
limit are Q = ± 2a + q with (for even N ):
 
2π 1
q= n− , n ∈ Z. (4)
L 2
(depending on the parity of the number of particle in the ground state p = N/2, the boundary
π
conditions are either periodic or antiperiodic, but near ± 2a , the previous formula is always valid).
Accordingly the fermion operator fj now reads
r !
1 X ˜ ikj a π X π X
fj = √ fk e → ei 2 j f˜π2 +aq eiqx + e−i 2 j f˜− π2 +aq eiqx , where x = ja
N L q q
k

Introducing the left and right moving fermion as

r r
1X˜ 1X˜
ΨL (x) = f π +aq eiqx , ΨR (x) = f π2 +aq eiqx (5)
L q | 2{z } L q | − {z }
cL (q) cR (q)

we get
√  iπj/2 −iπj/2

fj = a e ΨL (x) + e ΨR (x) , x = ja (6)

14. Argue that in the limit a → 0 the Fermi momentum becomes infinite, and as a consequence the two
fermions ΨL and ΨR become independent : the lattice fermion operator fj yields two fermions in
the continuum ! This phenomenon is due to the fact that there are two momentum region in the
low-energy limit. Comment on the phase factors in (6). Show that we have

{Ψ†η (x), Ψη0 (x0 )} = δη,η0 δ(x − x0 ), Ψη (x + L) = −Ψη (x), η, η 0 ∈ {L, R}. (7)

15. Show that in the continuum limit, the non-interacting fermionic Hamiltonian
N −1
fj† fj+1 + fj+1
†
!
X fj
H=J
2
j=0

becomes
Z L   X  † 
H = vF dx i Ψ†L (x)∂x ΨL (x) − Ψ†R (x)∂x ΨR (x) = vF †
q cR (q)cR (q) − cL (q)cL (q) (8)
0 q

What is the Fermi velocity vF ?

16. Let us denote by |0i the ground state (Fermi see) of the continuum model, which we are going to call
the vacuum. Show that for q > 0 we have

c†R (−q)|0i = 0 and cR (q)|0i = 0 (9)

c†L (q)|0i =0 and cL (−q)|0i = 0 (10)

Comment on the vacuum energy.

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3.2 Normal ordering

The vacuum energy problem is typical of a field theory, and is due to the infinite number of degrees of
freedom. It is however very easy to circumvent. Before taking the continuum limit, we can substract
the GS energy from the Hamiltonian, which amounts to put the GS energy to 0. The Hamiltonian in
the continuum becomes
X  † 
HF = vF q : cR (q)cR (q) : − : c†L (q)L (q) : (11)
q

where the normal ordered product : c†η (k)cη (k) : is defined as

: c†η (k)cη (k) := c†η (k)cη (k) − h0|c†η (k)cη (k)|0i

17. Show that

( (
−cL (k)c†L (k) if k>0 c†R (k)cR (k) if k>0
: c†L (k)cL (k) := , : c†R (k)cR (k) := (12)
c†L (k)cL (k) if k<0 −cR (k)c†R (k) if k<0

Electronic density : Since the Fermi see contains an infinite number of fermions in the continuum
limit, the electronic density Ψ†η (x)Ψη (x) is not well defined (the zero mode, which counts the total
number of fermions, is infinite). To obtain a sensible quantity in the thermodynamic limit, we have to
subtract this infinite quantity. Again, the proper way to do this is to work with the normal ordered
quantities ρη (x) =: Ψ†η (x)Ψη (x) : defined as
: Ψ†η (x)Ψη (x) := Ψ†η (x)Ψη (x) − h0|Ψ†η (x)Ψη (x)|0i (13)
Upon decomposing the density in Fourier modes
1X
ρη (x) = ρη (q)e−iqx (14)
L q
P †
we get the usual ρη (q) = k cη (k+q)cη (k), except for q = 0. The regularized zero mode ρη (q = 0) = Nη
is
X  1
ρη (q = 0) = c†η (k)cη (k) − h0|c†η (k)cη (k)|0i = N̂η
k | {z } L
:c†η (k)cη (k):

Show that
!
c†L (k)cL (k) − cL (k)c†L (k)
X X
N̂L = L
k<0 k>0
!
cR (k)c†R (k) c†R (k)cR (k)
X X
N̂R = L − +
k<0 k>0

Note that this is now finite, since N̂η counts the deviation in fermion number (of type η) from the
reference state |0i.
18. Show that (for q, q 0 6= 0)
X 
[ρη (q), ρη0 (q 0 )] = δq+q0 ,0 δη,η0 h0|c†η (k + q)cη (k + q)|0i − h0|c†η (k)cη (k)|0i (15)
k
− qL

2π if η = R
= δq+q0 ,0 δη,η0 qL (16)
2π if η = L

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3.3 Bosonic field

We now introduce a right and left (compact) scalar field φ(x) and φ̄(x) as
2πx X1 
φ(x) = φ0 − a0 + i an ei2πnx/L − a†n e−i2πnx/L (17)
L n
n>0
2πx X 1 
φ̄(x) = φ̄0 + ā0 + i ān e−i2πnx/L − ā†n ei2πnx/L (18)
L n
n>0

with commutation relations

[an , a†m ] = nδn,m , [ān , ā†m ] = nδn,m , [φ0 , a0 ] = [φ̄0 , ā0 ] = i (19)

all other commutators vanishing.

19. Check that the following identifications are compatible with these commutation relations

an = ρR (−q), a†n = ρR (q), a0 = NR

ān = ρL (q), ā†n = ρL (−q), ā0 = NL
2πn
where q = L > 0. This amounts to identify

1 1
ρR (x) = − ∂x φ(x), ρL (x) = ∂x φ̄(x) (20)
2π 2π

20. Out of these bosonic modes we define so-called vertex operators as

  α2
2π 2 2πx α2
Vα (x) = e−i L 2 : eiαφ(x) : (21)
L
where the normal ordered exponential is
" # " #
X1 X1 2πx
: eiαφ(x) : = eiαφ0 exp α a†n e−iqx exp −α an eiqx e−iα L a0 (22)
n n
n>0 n>0

2π

α2 2πx α2
where q = 2πn/L. Likewise we define V̄α = L
2
ei L 2 : eiαφ̄(x) :.
1
The Campbell-Baker-Hausdorff (CBH) formula states that eA eB = eA+B e 2 [A,B] provided A and B
commute with [A, B]. Show that the product of two vertex operators is
0 0 0
 2πx  0
2πx0 αα
: eiαφ(x) : : eiα φ(x ) : = : eiαφ(x)+iαφ(x ) : e−i L − e−i L . (23)

21. Deduce that

 −α2
0 L π 0
h0|Vα (x)V−α (x )|0i = i sin (x − x) (24)
π L

22. The bosonized expressions of the fermion operators are

1 1
ΨR (x) = √ V−1 (x), Ψ†R (x) = √ V1 (x)
2π 2π
1 † 1
ΨL (x) = √ V̄1 (x), ΨL (x) = √ V̄−1 (x)
2π 2π
†
Recompute h0|fm fn |0i using bosonization.

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23. Show that the string operator becomes local in the boson, namely

n−1
n−m 1 1
fj† fj =
X
φ̄(x0 ) − φ(x0 ) −



+ φ̄(x) − φ(x) (25)
2 2π 2π
j=m

where x = ma and x0 = na.

24. In order to have a hermitian expression in the continuum limit, we use a slightly modified expression
of the string operator
n−1
fj† fj )
X
cos(π (26)
j=m

In the continuum limit this modified string operator become

1 h iπ(n−m)/2 − i (φ̄(x)−φ(x)) i (φ̄(x0 )−φ(x0 )) i
e e 2 e2 + h.c. (27)
2
+ S − i decay algebraically as
Show that for large distances the correlation function hSm n

+ − 1
hSm Sn i ∼ 1 (28)
(n − m) 2

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