We present a method for the calculation of dynamical correlation functions of quantum impurity systems out of equilibrium using Wilson's numerical renormalization group. Our formulation is based on a complete basis set of the Wilson chain and embeds the recently derived algorithm for equilibrium spectral functions. Our method fulfills the spectral weight conserving sum-rule exactly by construction. A local Coulomb repulsion $U>0$ is switched on at $t=0$, and the asymptotic steady-state spectral functions are obtained for various values of $U$ as well as magnetic field strength $H$ and temperature $T$. These benchmark tests show excellent agreement between the time-evolved and the directly calculated equilibrium NRG spectra for finite $U$. This method could be used for calculating steady-state non-equilibrium spectral functions at finite bias through interacting nano-devices.
We compute exactly the low-energy single-electron Green's function, the impurity and electron self-energies, and the resistivity for the two-channel Anderson impurity model. These results are obtained by exploiting the boundary conformal field theory identified from the Bethe Ansatz solution of the model. Using that solution we can make contact with the parameters of the original Hamiltonian and provide the detailed crossover between the two integer valence limits. Our results generalize those obtained previously in the context of the two-channel Kondo model.
We present a technique for calculating non-equilibrium Green functions for impurity systems with local interactions. We use an analogy to the calculation of response functions in the x-ray problem.The initial state and the final state problems, which correspond to the situations before and after the disturbance (an electric or magnetic field, for example) is suddenly switched on, are solved with the aid of Wilson's momentum shell renormalization group. The method is illustrated by calculating the non-equilibrium dynamics of the ohmic two-state problem.
We develop a general approach to the nonequilibrium dynamics of quantum impurity systems for arbitrary coupling strength. The numerical renormalization group is used to generate a complete basis set necessary for the correct description of the time evolution. We benchmark our method with the exact analytical solution for the resonant-level model. As a first application, we investigate the equilibration of a quantum dot subject to a sudden change of the gate voltage and external magnetic field. Two distinct relaxation times are identified for the spin and charge dynamics.
We analyze the one-dimensional extended Hubbard model with a single static impurity by using a computational technique based on the functional renormalization group. This extends previous work for spinless fermions to spin-1/2 fermions. The underlying approximations are devised for weak interactions and arbitrary impurity strengths, and have been checked by comparing with density-matrix renormalization-group data. We present results for the density of states, the density profile and the linear conductance. Two-particle backscattering leads to striking effects, which are not captured if the bul…
Recent developments in the numerical renormalization group (NRG) allow the construction of the full density matrix (FDM) of quantum impurity models (see A. Weichselbaum and J. von Delft) by using the completeness of the eliminated states introduced by F. B. Anders and A. Schiller (2005). While these developments prove particularly useful in the calculation of transient response and finite temperature Green's functions of quantum impurity models, they may also be used to calculate thermodynamic properties. In this paper, we assess the FDM approach to thermodynamic properties by applying it to t…
We use the adaptive time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method (t-DMRG) to study the nonequilibrium dynamics of a benchmark quantum impurity system which has a time-dependent Hamiltonian. This model is a resonant-level model, obtained by a mapping from a certain Ohmic spin-boson model describing the dissipative Landau-Zener transition. We map the resonant-level model onto a Wilson chain, then calculate the time-dependent occupation $n_d(t)$ of the resonant level. We compare t-DMRG results with exact results at zero temperature and find very good agreement. We also give a physic…
We review the diagrammatic, conserving theory for quantum impurities with strong on-site repulsion. The method is based on auxiliary particle technique, where Wick's theorem is valid, which opens up the possibility for generalizations to more complicated situations. An analysis in terms of the perturbative renormalization group (RG) shows that on the level of the Conserving T--matrix Approximation the theory correctly describes the RG flow, including the non-scaling of potential scattering terms and the correct Kondo temperature.
We show how the density-matrix numerical renormalization group (DM-NRG) method can be used in combination with non-Abelian symmetries such as SU(N), where the decomposition of the direct product of two irreducible representations requires the use of a so-called outer multiplicity label. We apply this scheme to the SU(3) symmetrical Anderson model, for which we analyze the finite size spectrum, determine local fermionic, spin, superconducting, and trion spectral functions, and also compute the temperature dependence of the conductance. Our calculations reveal a rich Fermi liquid structure.
The occurrence of two-particle inelastic backscattering has been conjectured in helical edge states of topological insulators and is expected to alter transport. In this Letter, by using a renormalization group approach, we provide a microscopic derivation of this process, in the presence of a time-reversal invariant Rashba impurity potential. Unlike previous approaches to the problem, we are able to prove that such an effect only occurs in the presence of electron-electron interactions. Furthermore, we find that the linear conductance as a function of temperature exhibits a crossover between …
The nonequilibrium spectral properties of the Anderson impurity model with a chemical potential bias are investigated within a numerically exact real time quantum Monte Carlo formalism. The two-time correlation function is computed in a form suitable for nonequilibrium dynamical mean field calculations. Additionally, the evolution of the model's spectral properties are simulated in an alternative representation, defined by a hypothetical but experimentally realizable weakly coupled auxiliary lead. The voltage splitting of the Kondo peak is confirmed and the dynamics of its formation after a co…
We present a novel technique for the calculation of dynamical correlation functions of quantum impurity systems in equilibrium with Wilson's numerical renormalization group. Our formulation is based on a complete basis set of the Wilson chain. In contrast to all previous methods, it does not suffer from overcounting of excitation. By construction, it always fulfills sum rules for spectral functions. Furthermore, it accurately reproduces local thermodynamic expectation values, such as occupancy and magnetization, obtained directly from the numerical renormalization group calculations.
We present a Green's function technique for studying the nonlinear conductance of a nanocontact system with two electrodes at different chemical potentials. The retarded Green's function for a single-impurity Anderson model with two reservoirs is obtained in terms of a $5\times 5$ matrix in which the effect of bias is contained. A complete set of basis vectors for the single-impurity Anderson model has been provided before formulating the Green's function. Finally, we present a self-consistent method to fix the undetermined quantities existing in the matrix elements for the retarded Green's fu…
Probing quantum critical crossover via impurity renormalization group
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University（南京大学固体微结构物理国家重点实验室和物理系）；School of Physics, Renmin University of China（中国人民大学物理学院）；Key Laboratory of Quantum State Construction and Manipulation (Ministry of Education), Renmin University of China（教育部量子态构建与操控重点实验室（中国人民大学））；Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University（南京大学先进微结构协同创新中心）；Jiangsu Physical Science Research Center（江苏物理科学研究中心）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）
We present a new method to calculate directly the one-particle self-energy of an impurity Anderson model with Wilson's numerical Renormalization Group method by writing this quantity as the ratio of two correlation functions. This way of calculating Sigma(z) turns out to be considerably more reliable and accurate than via the impurity Green's function alone. We show results for the self-energy for the case of a constant coupling between impurity and conduction band (ImDelta = const) and the effective Delta(z) arising in the Dynamical Mean Field Theory of the Hubbard model. Implications to the …
We present an alternative functional renormalization group (fRG) approach to the single-impurity Anderson model at finite temperatures. Starting with the exact self-energy and interaction vertex of a small system ('core') containing a correlated site, we switch on the hybridization with a non-interacting bath in the fRG-flow and calculate spectra of the correlated site. Different truncations of the RG-flow-equations and choices of the core are compared and discussed. Furthermore we calculate the linear conductance and the magnetic susceptibility as functions of temperature and interaction stre…
We study the nonequilibrium Keldysh Green's function for an N-orbital Anderson model at high bias voltages, extending a previous work, which for the case only with the spin degrees of freedom N=2, to arbitrary N. Our approach uses an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian that is defined with respect to a Liouville-Fock space in the context of a thermal field theory. The result correctly captures the relaxation processes at high energies, and is asymptotically exact not only in the high-bias limit but also in the high-temperature limit at thermal equilibrium. We also present an explicit continued…
We study the renormalization of a single impurity potential in one-dimensional interacting electron systems in the presence of magnetic field. Using the bosonization technique and Bethe ansatz solutions, we determine the renormalization group flow diagram for the amplitudes of scattering of up- and down-spin electrons by the impurity in a quantum wire at low electron density and in the Hubbard model at less than half filling. In the absence of magnetic field the repulsive interactions are known to enhance backscattering and make the impurity potential impenetrable in the low-energy limit. On t…
We describe some exact high-energy properties of a single Anderson impurity connected to two noninteracting leads in a nonequilibrium steady state. In the limit of high bias voltages, and also in the high-temperature limit at thermal equilibrium, the model can be mapped on to an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian consisting of two sites, which correspond to the original impurity and its image that is defined in a doubled Hilbert space referred to as Liouville-Fock space. For this, we provide a heuristic derivation using a path-integral representation of the Keldysh contour and the thermal fie…
We extend a previously proposed rotation and truncation scheme to optimize quantum Anderson impurity calculations with exact diagonalization [PRB 90, 085102 (2014)] to density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations. The method reduces the solution of a full impurity problem with virtually unlimited bath sites to that of a small subsystem based on a natural impurity orbital basis set. The later is solved by DMRG in combination with a restricted-active-space truncation scheme. The method allows one to compute Green's functions directly on the real frequency or time axis. We critically …
Symmetry-breaking perturbations destabilize the critical points of the two-channel and two-impurity Kondo models, thereby leading to a crossover from non-Fermi liquid behavior to standard Fermi liquid physics. Here we use an analogy between this crossover and one occurring in the boundary Ising model to calculate the full zero temperature crossover Green function analytically. In remarkable agreement with our numerical renormalization group calculations, the single exact function applies for an arbitrary mixture of the relevant perturbations in each model. This rich behavior resulting from fin…
We show that the functional renormalization group is a numerically cheap method to obtain the low-energy behavior of the Anderson impurity model describing a localized interacting electron coupled to a bath of conduction electrons. Our approach uses an external magnetic field as flow parameter, partial bosonization of the transverse spin fluctuations, and frequency-independent interaction vertices which are fixed by Ward identities. We calculate the quasi-particle residue and the spin susceptibility in the particle-hole symmetric case and obtain excellent agreement with the Bethe ansatz result…
We present numerical renormalization group (NRG) calculations for a single-impurity Anderson model with a linear coupling to a local phonon mode. We calculate dynamical response functions, spectral densities, dynamic charge and spin susceptibilities. Being non-perturbative, the NRG is applicable for all parameter regimes. Our calculations cover both weak and strong electron-phonon coupling for zero and finite electron-electron interaction. We interpret the high- and low-energy features and compare our results to atomic limit calculations and perturbation theory. In certain restricted parameter…
The impurity Green function and dynamical susceptibilties for the two-channel Anderson impurity model are calculated. An exact expression for the self-energy of the impurity Green function is derived. The imaginary part of the self-energy scales as $\sqrt{|\w/T_K|}$ for $T\to 0$ serving as a hallmark for non-Fermi behavior. The many-body resonance is pinned to a universal value $1/(2πΔ)$ at $\w=0$. Its shape becomes increasingly more symmetric for the Kondo-regimes of the model. The dynamical susceptibilities are governed by two energy scales $T_K$ and $T_h$ and approach a constant value for $…
Recent experiments with cold atoms on the impurity motion in one-dimensional liquids of interacting bosons have revealed an interesting interplay between the polaronic impurity mass shift and the renormalization of the optical potential. We show that the influence of the external trap on the Bose gas leads to a steeper effective potential for the impurity. We propose a framework in which this potential renormalization and the mass shift can be quantitatively understood by combining a semi-classical theory of density wave excitations in the Luttinger liquid with the non equilibrium formalism of…
Using functional methods and the exact renormalization group we derive Ward identities for the Anderson impurity model. In particular, we present a non-perturbative proof of the Yamada-Yosida identities relating certain coefficients in the low-energy expansion of the self-energy to thermodynamic particle number and spin susceptibilities of the impurity. Our proof underlines the relation of the Yamada-Yosida identities to the U(1) x U(1) symmetry associated with particle number and spin conservation in a magnetic field.
In this paper we have explored the role of valence fluctuations in an extended Anderson impurity model (e-SIAM) in which there is an additional Hubbard repulsion between conduction and impurity electrons, employing perturbative renormalization methods. We have calculated the scaling equations for the model parameters and solved them both analytically and numerically to find how valence fluctuations renormalize these parameters. Analytical solutions of the scaling equations yielded scaling invariants of the model which we find to be different than the Anderson impurity model signifying differen…
The problem of two magnetic impurities in a normal metal exposes the two opposite tendencies in the formation of a singlet ground state, driven respectively by the single-ion Kondo effect with conduction electrons to screen impurity spins or the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction between the two impurities to directly form impurity spin singlet. However, whether the competition between these two tendencies can lead to a quantum critical point has been debated over more than two decades. Here, we study this problem by applying the newly proposed natural orbitals renormalization group met…
Auxiliary-Bath Numerical Renormalization Group Method and Successive Collective Screening in Multi-Impurity Kondo Systems
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；Department of Physics and Chongqing Key Laboratory for Strongly Coupled Physics, Chongqing University（重庆大学）；School of Physics, Hangzhou Normal University（杭州师范大学）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory（松山湖材料实验室）
We introduce a method to obtain the specific heat of quantum impurity models via a direct calculation of the impurity internal energy requiring only the evaluation of local quantities within a single numerical renormalization group (NRG) calculation for the total system. For the Anderson impurity model, we show that the impurity internal energy can be expressed as a sum of purely local static correlation functions and a term that involves also the impurity Green function. The temperature dependence of the latter can be neglected in many cases, thereby allowing the impurity specific heat, $C_{\…
Renormalization of non-magnetic impurity potential by strong electron correlation is investigated in detail. We adopt the t-t'-t"-J model and consider mainly a delta-function impurity potential. The variational Monte Carlo method shows that impurity potential scattering matrix elements between Gutzwiller-projected quasi-particle excited states are as strongly renormalized as the hopping terms. Such renormalization is also seen by the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation with an impurity, where the strong correlation is treated by a Gutzwiller mean-field theory with local Gutzwiller factors and local …
The density matrix renormalization group method is applied to obtain the ground state phase diagram of the single impurity Anderson model on the honeycomb lattice at half filling. The calculation of local static quantities shows that the phase diagram contains two distinct phases, the local moment (LM) phase and the asymmetric strong coupling (ASC) phase. These results are supported by the local spin and charge excitation spectra, which exhibit qualitatively different behavior in these two phases and also reveal the existence of the valence fluctuating point at the phase boundary. For comparis…
Nonperturbative dynamic theory has a particular advantage in studying the transport in a quantum impurity system in a steady state. Here, we develop a new approach for obtaining the retarded Green's function expressed in resolvent form. We use the Heisenberg picture to facilitate dynamic theory and propose a new systematic method of collecting the basis vectors spanning the Liouville space, which is the most crucial step in obtaining the resolvent Green's function. We obtain all the linearly independent basis vectors for studying the single-impurity Anderson models with one and two reservoirs.…
We study numerically the universal conductance of Luttinger liquids wire with a single impurity via the Muti-scale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (MERA). The scale invariant MERA provides an efficient way to extract scaling operators and scaling dimensions for both the bulk and the boundary conformal field theories. By utilizing the key relationship between the conductance tensor and ground-state correlation function, the universal conductance can be evaluated within the framework of the boundary MERA. We construct the boundary MERA to compute the correlation functions and scaling dimensi…
We investigate the ground-state properties of the Anderson single impurity model (finite Coulomb impurity repulsion) with the Coupled Cluster Method. We consider different CCM reference states and approximation schemes and make comparison with exact Green's function results for the non-interacting model and with Brillouin-Wigner perturbation theory for the full interacting model. Our results show that coupled cluster techniques are well suited to quantum impurity problems.
It has been recently suggested that when an Anderson impurity is immersed in the bulk of a topological insulator, a Kondo resonant peak will appear simultaneously with an in-gap bound-state when the band-dispersion has an "inverted-Mexican-hat" form. The mid-gap bound-state generates another spin state and the Kondo effect is thereby screened. In this paper we study this problem within a weak-coupling RG scheme where we show that the system exhibits complex crossover behavior between different symmetry configurations and may evolve into a self-screened-Kondo or SO(3) low energy fix point. Expe…
A reformulation of site-occupation embedding theory (SOET) in terms of Green's functions is presented. Referred to as site-occupation--Green's function embedding theory (SOGET), this novel extension of density-functional theory for model Hamiltonians shares many features with dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) but is formally exact (in any dimension). In SOGET, the impurity-interacting correlation potential becomes a density-functional self-energy which is frequency-dependent and in principle non-local. A simple local density-functional approximation (LDA) combining the Bethe Ansatz (BA) LDA w…
We introduce a block Lanczos (BL) recursive technique to construct quasi-one-dimensional models, suitable for density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations, from single- as well as multiple-impurity Anderson models in any spatial dimensions. This new scheme, named BL-DMRG method, allows us to calculate not only local but also spatially dependent static and dynamical quantities of the ground state for general Anderson impurity models without losing elaborate geometrical information of the lattice. We show that the BL-DMRG method can be easily extended to treat a multi-orbital Anderso…
Using a fermionic renormalization group method we present a simple real space picture of the strong influence an impurity has on the electronic properties of a Luttinger liquid. We compute the flow of the renormalized impurity potential for a single impurity over the entire energy range - from the microscopic scale of a lattice-fermion model down to the low-energy limit. We confirm that low energy properties close to the impurity are as if the chain is cut in two pieces with open boundary conditions at the end points, but show that this universal behavior is only reached for extremely large sy…
We show that to understand the orthogonality catastrophe in the half-filled lattice model of spinless fermions with repulsive nearest neighbor interaction and a local impurity in its Luttinger liquid phase one has to take into account (i) the impurity scaling, (ii) unusual finite size $L$ corrections of the form $\ln(L)/L$, as well as (iii) the renormalization group flow of the umklapp scattering. The latter defines a length scale $L_u$ which becomes exceedingly large the closer the system is to its transition into the charge-density wave phase. Beyond this transition umklapp scattering is rel…
A magnetic moment in a metal or in a quantum dot is, at low temperatures, screened by the conduction electrons through the mechanism of the Kondo effect. This gives rise to spin-spin correlations between the magnetic moment and the conduction electrons, which can have a substantial spatial extension. We study this phenomenon, the so-called Kondo cloud, by means of the density matrix renormalization group method for the case of the single-impurity Anderson model. We focus on the question whether the Kondo screening length, typically assumed to be proportional to the inverse Kondo temperature, c…
In quasi-1D conducting nanowires spin-orbit coupling destructs spin-charge separation, intrinsic to Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL). We study renormalization of a single scattering impurity in a such liquid. Performing bosonization of low-energy excitations and exploiting perturbative renormalization analysis we extend the phase portrait in $K_s$ - $K_c$ space, obtained previously for TLL with decoupled spin-charge channels.
We study the Kondo model --a magnetic impurity coupled to a one dimensional wire via exchange coupling-- by using Wilson's numerical renormalization group (NRG) technique. By applying an approach similar to which was used to compute the two impurity problem we managed to improve the bad spatial resolution of the numerical renormalization group method. In this way we have calculated the impurity spin - conduction electron spin correlation function which is a measure of the Kondo compensation cloud whose existence has been a long standing problem in solid state physics. We also present results o…
We investigate the performance of Green's function coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) method as a solver for Green's function embedding methods. To develop an efficient CC solver, we construct the one-particle Green's function from the coupled cluster (CC) wave function based on a non-hermitian Lanczos algorithm. The major advantage of this method is that its scaling does not depend on the number of frequency points. We have tested the applicability of the CC Green's function solver in the weakly to strongly correlated regimes by employing it for a half-filled 1D Hubbard model projecte…
The aspect of the quasiparticle interaction of a local Fermi liquid, the impurity version of f$^2$-based heavy fermions, is studied by the Wilson numerical renormalization group method. In particular, the case of the f$^2$-singlet crystalline-electric-field ground state is investigated assuming the case of UPt$_3$ with the hexagonal symmetry. It is found that the interorbital interaction becomes larger than the intraorbital one in contrast to the case of the bare Coulomb interaction for the parameters relevant to UPt$_3$. This result offers us a basis to construct a microscopic theory of the s…
Using the natural orbitals renormalization group, we studied the problem of a localized spin- 1/2 impurity coupled to two helical liquids via the Kondo interaction in a quantum spin Hall insulator, based on the Kane-Mele model defined in a finite zigzag graphene nanoribbon. We investigated the influence of the Kondo couplings with the helical liquids on both the static and dynamic properties of the ground state. The number and distinct spatial structures of the active natural orbitals (ANOs), which play essential roles in constructing the ground-state wave function, were first analyzed. Our nu…
We develop a functional renormalization group approach which describes the low-energy single-particle properties of the Anderson impurity model up to intermediate on-site interactions $U \lesssim 15 Δ$, where $Δ$ is the hybridization in the wide-band limit. Our method is based on a generalization of a method proposed by Schütz, Bartosch and Kopietz [Phys. Rev. B 72, 035107 (2005)], using two independent Hubbard-Stratonovich fields associated with transverse and longitudinal spin fluctuations. Although we do not reproduce the exponentially small Kondo scale in the limit $U \to \infty$, the spin…
Simple scaling consideration and NRG solution of the one- and two-channel Kondo model in the presence of a logarithmic Van Hove singularity at the Fermi level is given. The temperature dependences of local and impurity magnetic susceptibility and impurity entropy are calculated. The low-temperature behavior of the impurity susceptibility and impurity entropy turns out to be non-universal in the Kondo sense and independent of the $s-d$ coupling $J$. The resonant level model solution in the strong coupling regime confirms the NRG results. In the two-channel case the local susceptibility demonstr…
The existence of a length-scale $ξ_K\sim 1/T_K$ (with $T_K$ the Kondo temperature) has long been predicted in quantum impurity systems. At low temperatures $T\ll T_K$, the standard interpretation is that a spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ impurity is screened by a surrounding `Kondo cloud' of spatial extent $ξ_K$. We argue that renormalization group (RG) flow between any two fixed points (FPs) results in a characteristic length-scale, observed in real-space as a crossover between physical behaviour typical of each FP. In the simplest example of the Anderson impurity model, three FPs arise; and we show that…
We study the renormalization group flow of the Luttinger-Ward functional and of its two-particle irreducible vertex functions, given a cut-off in the two-particle interaction. We derive a conserving approximation to the flow and relate it to the fluctuation exchange approximation as well as to non-conserving approximations introduced in an earlier publication ctuation exchange approximation as well as to nonconserving approximations introducen [J. F. Rentrop, S. G. Jakobs, and V. Meden, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 48, 145002 (2015)]. We apply the different approximate flow equations to the single…
The self-energy method for quantum impurity models expresses the correlation part of the self-energy in terms of the ratio of two Green's functions and allows for a more accurate calculation of equilibrium spectral functions than is possible directly from the one-particle Green's function [Bulla et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 10, 8365 (1998)], for example, within the numerical renormalization group method. In addition, the self-energy itself is a central quantity required in the dynamical mean field theory of strongly correlated lattice models. Here, we show how to generalize the self-energ…
The pseudogap Kondo problem, describing a magnetic impurity embedded in an electronic environment with a power-law density of states, displays continuous quantum phase transitions between free and screened moment phases. In this paper we employ renormalization group techniques to analytically calculate universal crossover functions, associated to these transitions, for various observables. Quantitative agreement with the results of Numerical Renormalization Group (NRG) simulations is obtained for temperature-dependent static and zero-temperature dynamic quantities, at and away from criticality…
In the beginning of the 1970's, Wilson developed the concept of a fully non-perturbative renormalization group transformation. Applied to the Kondo problem, this numerical renormalization group method (NRG) gave for the first time the full crossover from the high-temperature phase of a free spin to the low-temperature phase of a completely screened spin. The NRG has been later generalized to a variety of quantum impurity problems. The purpose of this review is to give a brief introduction to the NRG method including some guidelines of how to calculate physical quantities, and to survey the dev…
The numerical renormalization group method is used to investigate zero temperature phase transitions in quantum impurity systems, in particular in the particle-hole symmetric soft-gap Anderson model. The model displays two stable phases whose fixed points can be built up of non-interacting single-particle states. In contrast, the quantum phase transitions turn out to be described by interacting fixed points, and their excitations cannot be described in terms of free particles. We show that the structure of the many-body spectrum of these critical fixed points can be understood using renormaliz…
Wilson's numerical renormalization group (NRG) method for solving quantum impurity models yields a set of energy eigenstates that have the form of matrix product states (MPS). White's density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) for treating quantum lattice problems can likewise be reformulated in terms of MPS. Thus, the latter constitute a common algebraic structure for both approaches. We exploit this fact to compare the NRG approach for the single-impurity Anderson model to a variational matrix product state approach (VMPS), equivalent to single-site DMRG. For the latter, we use an ``unfolde…
The persistent current in a lattice model of a one-dimensional interacting electron system is systematically studied using a complex version of the density matrix renormalization group algorithm and the functional renormalization group method. We mainly focus on the situation where a single impurity is included in the ring penetrated by a magnetic flux. Due to the interplay of the electron-electron interaction and the impurity the persistent current in a system of N lattice sites vanishes faster then 1/N. Only for very large systems and large impurities our results are consistent with the boso…
Quantum impurity problems can be solved using the numerical renormalization group (NRG), which involves discretizing the free conduction electron system and mapping to a `Wilson chain'. It was shown recently that Wilson chains for different electronic species can be interleaved by use of a modified discretization, dramatically increasing the numerical efficiency of the RG scheme [Phys. Rev. B 89, 121105(R) (2014)]. Here we systematically examine the accuracy and efficiency of the `interleaved' NRG (iNRG) method in the context of the single impurity Anderson model, the two-channel Kondo model, …
We present a unified framework for renormalization group methods, including Wilson's numerical renormalization group (NRG) and White's density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG), within the language of matrix product states. This allows improvements over Wilson's NRG for quantum impurity models, as we illustrate for the one-channel Kondo model. Moreover, we use a variational method for evaluating Green's functions. The proposed method is more flexible in its description of spectral properties at finite frequencies, opening the way to time-dependent, out-of-equilibrium impurity problems. It al…
