Volume38A, number 4 PHYSICS LETTERS 14 February 1972

A DYSON EQUATION FOR THE LINEAR RESPONSE FUNCTION

P . SCHUCK
Physik-Department der Technischen Universiti~t M~nchen, Teilinstitut Theorie, Miinehen, Germany

Received 26 November 1971

We derive an integral equation for the linear response which is completely analogous to Dyson's
equation for the one particle Green function. The corresponding particle-hole self-energy for which
an explicit expression is given depends only on the frequency and the wave-number of the applied
field. In other words this means that no longer an integral equation has to be solved either in energy
or in momentum space.

Attempts to calculate the l i n e a r r e s p o n s e d i r e c t l y from the c o r r e s p o n d i n g B e t h e - S a l p e t e r equation

t u r n e d out to be exceedingly complicated [1]. This was m a i n l y due to the fact that the i r r e d u c i b l e k e r n e l
of the B e t h e - S a l p e t e r equation depends on three e n e r g i e s which have to be a n a l y t i c a l l y continued in the
complex w-plane but the solution of the i n t e g r a l equation in m o m e n t u m space r e p r e s e n t s a difficulty of
s i m i l a r magnitude. A f u r t h e r p r o b l e m c o n s i s t s in the c o n s e r v a t i o n laws for p a r t i c l e n u m b e r , m o m e n t u m
and energy. Since the i r r e d u c i b l e i n t e g r a l k e r n e l is only defined by p e r t u r b a t i o n theory it is not very
easy to find a p p r o x i m a t i o n s which do fulfill these c o n s e r v a t i o n laws. All these difficulties a r e c i r c u m -
vented with our method [2-5]. E m p l o y i n g the "equation of motion method" [6] we d e r i v e an i n t e g r a l
equation for the l i n e a r r e s p o n s e which is completely analogous to D y s o n ' s equation for the one p a r t i c l e
G r e e n function. In F o u r i e r space the c o r r e s p o n d i n g p a r t i c l e (p)-hole (h) self e n e r g y depends only on the
e n e r g y and the w a v e - n u m b e r of the applied field. An a l g e b r a i c solution in t e r m s of this p - h m a s s - o p e r -
ator can t h e r e f o r e be given. In other words this m e a n s that no longer an i n t e g r a l equation for the l i n e a r
r e s p o n s e has to be solved e i t h e r in energy or in m o m e n t u m space. C r i t e r i a to get c o n s e r v i n g a p p r o x i -
m a t i o n s are equivalent to those of Kadanoff and Baym [7].
E m p l o y i n g the equation of motion method we have b e e n able to give an explicit e x p r e s s i o n for the
p a r t i c l e s e l f - e n e r g y of D y s o n ' s equation in t e r m s of a g e n e r a l i z e d 2 p - l h G r e e n function:

%, =%, +% %,;
The static p a r t of M is supposed to be included in ep. The m a s s - o p e r a t o r is then given by:

M(p~, R (t-t' ) (2a)

t-t') = ¼ Wpl, mn n m l ' , l m ' n ' Wn,m,,l,p,

R n m l ' , l m ' n ' = Gnml' , l m ' n ' + Grim, lk Gklk' G k ' l ' , m ' n ' " (2b)

W mn is the a n t i s y m m e t rpi z e d m a t r i x - e l e m e n t of the

v, t two-body i n t e r a c t i o n . The second t e r m on the
" "

right hand side of eq. (2b) s e r v e s to make the m a s s - o p e r a t o r i r r e d u c i b l e : it cannot be split into two
p a r t s by " c u t t i n g " only one p a r t i c l e - l i n e .
In F o u r i e r space eq. (1) can be solved exactly in t e r m s of M for t r a n s l a t i o n a l l y i n v a r i a n t s y s t e m s :

Gpw : [co- - M p ] -1 , oo :
cpp, %t,' 13)
Applying the s a m e method which led to the e x p r e s s i o n (2) for the m a s s - o p e r a t o r on the l i n e a r r e s p o n s e
function we a r r i v e at a solution completely analogous to the one of eq. (3). The only difference c o n s i s t s
in applying instead of G°,,-1 the d i f f e r e n t i a l o p e r a t o r
F

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 Volume 38A, number 4 PHYSICS LETTERS 14 February 1972

P2P½ P2 eP'2) I (4)

on the l i n e a r r e s p o n s e function: R(t-t') = Gtt' t' t -G ,G (5)

T T I T "

P2Pl,PlP2 P2Pl,PlP2 P2P2 PlPl

The r e s u l t is: R(K,w) = RRPA(K, ¢o)/{1 - RRPA(K, ¢o)MPh(K, ¢o)} (6)

with R(K,W): ~ Rw (7)

p,p' p+K/2 p' - K/2; p' + K/2 p-K~2

MPh(K,w) =/~ °-I(K, co) p,~p, RpO0 (K,W) M~,Wp,p,/~P'-OO'tK'W) RO-I(K, ¢0) (8)
-- oo :- % + >' %o o

K,¢o, 1 Rw + symmetrization terms (9)

,P = 4 Wp+t¢/2 l, mn n m n l m l , lllP'+K/2 p-K~2 Wp'-K/2 l l , m l n l
R oo
n m n l m l , lllP'+K/2 p-K~2 =-
(10)
_=G w ~ w R-1 G0)
nmnlm 1, lllP'+K/2 p-K~2-k, k'Gnmk'-K/2, lk'+K/2 p-K~2 (K, W) k+K/2 nlml, / l p ' + r,/2 k-K~2
A s in the o n e - p a r t i c l e c a s e RRPA(K, w) s u m s up all s t a t i c c o n t r i b u t i o n s of the p a r t i c l e - h o l e s e l f - e n e r g y
and c o r r e s p o n d s to the usual R P A - s o l u t i o n for the l i n e a r r e s p o n s e . The second t e r m on the r i g h t hand
side of eq. (10) s e r v e s again to make the s e l f - e n e r g y i r r e d u c i b l e : it cannot be split into two p a r t s by
cutting only two o n e - p a r t i c l e G r e e n functions at the same time and at the same place.
C o m p a r i n g the r e s u l t for the p a r t i c l e - h o l e e a s e with the one of the p a r t i c l e - c a s e we notice c o m -
ple te analogy. The p - h s e l f - e n e r g y is e s s e n t i a l l y g i v e n by s o m e i r r e d u c i b l e 2p-2h G r e e n function. In
p r i n c i p l e the p r o b l e m how to get r i d of the u n n e c e s s a r y m o m e n t a r e p r e s e n t s a p r o b l e m in addition to
the ones e n c o u n t e r e d in the one p a r t i c l e case. Since it can be handled in analogy to the e n e r g y - p r o b l e m
we do not want to go into f u r t h e r d e t a i l s h e r e but r a t h e r g i v e a m o r e c o m p l e t e d e r i v a t i o n of our r e s u l t s
elsewhere.
In spite of the p r o g r e s s we a c h i e v e d we think t h e r e r e m a i n s s t i l l a lot of work to be done: f i r s t of all
one should r e p l a c e all b a r e i n t e r a c t i o n s by t h e i r c o r r e s p o n d i n g T - m a t r i c e s . Secondly one should r e -
c he c k in the light of our t h e o r y c u r r e n t f o r m a l i s m s for the c a l c u l a t i o n of c o r r e l a t i o n functions. This
may b e c o m e i n t e r e s t i n g for i n s t a n c e in the t h e o r y of fluids.

I am e s p e c i a l l y indebted to Dr. H. W i n t e r for r a i s i n g my i n t e r e s t in the above p r o b l e m s and for many

c l a r i f y i n g and helpful d i s c u s s i o n s . In this r e s p e c t I am a l s o g r a t e f u l to Dr. S . E t h o f e r , P r o f e s s o r W.
G/Jtze and P r o f e s s o r H. Schmidt.

References
[1] G.M. Eliashberg, Soviet Phys. JETP 15 (1962) 1151; 14 (1961) 886.
[2] P. Schuck, Z. Physik 241 (1971) 395.
[3] D. Forster and P. C. Martin, Phys. Rev. A2 (1970) 1575.
[4] W. Gt~tze and P. WSlfle, J. of Low Temperature Phys. 5 {1971) 575.
[5] S. Ethofer, to be published.
[6] S. Ethofer and P. Schuck, Z. Physik 228 (1969) 264.
[7] L.P.Kadanoff and G. Baym, Quantum statistical mechanics, (W.A. Benjamin, Inc., New York, 1962).

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