For many years, the physics of strongly correlated systems was considered a theorists' playground, right at the border with pure mathematics, where physicists from the `real world' did not venture. The time has come, however, when healthy physics cannot exist without these techniques and results. Lectures on selected topics in the theory of strongly correlated systems are here presented by the leading experts in the field. Topics covered include a use of the form factor approach in low-dimensional systems, applications of quantum field theory to disorder, and dynamical mean field theory. The main divisions of the book deal with: I) Quantum Critical Points; (II) Strongly Correlated One-Dimensional Systems; (III) Strong Correlations and Disorder; and (IV) Dynamical Mean Field Theory.

This volume presents, for the very first time, an exhaustive collection of those modern numerical methods specifically tailored for the analysis of Strongly Correlated Systems. Many novel materials, with functional properties emerging from macroscopic quantum behaviors at the frontier of modern research in physics, chemistry and material science, belong to this class of systems. Any technique is presented in great detail by its own inventor or by one of the world-wide recognized main contributors. The exposition has a clear pedagogical cut and fully reports on the most relevant case study where the specific technique showed to be very successful in describing and enlightening the puzzling physics of a particular strongly correlated system. The book is intended for advanced graduate students and post-docs in the field as textbook and/or main reference, but also for other researchers in the field who appreciate consulting a single, but comprehensive, source or wishes to get acquainted, in a as painless as possible way, with the working details of a specific technique.

Focusing on the purely theoretical aspects of strongly correlated electrons, this volume brings together a variety of approaches to models of the Hubbard type - i.e., problems where both localized and delocalized elements are present in low dimensions. The chapters are arranged in three parts. The first part deals with two of the most widely used numerical methods in strongly correlated electrons, the density matrix renormalization group and the quantum Monte Carlo method. The second part covers Lagrangian, Functional Integral, Renormalization Group, Conformal, and Bosonization methods that can be applied to one-dimensional or weakly coupled chains. The third part considers functional derivatives, mean-field, self-consistent methods, slave-bosons, and extensions.

The volume presents, for the very first time, an exhaustive collection of those modern theoretical methods specifically tailored for the analysis of Strongly Correlated Systems. Many novel materials, with functional properties emerging from macroscopic quantum behaviors at the frontier of modern research in physics, chemistry and materials science, belong to this class of systems. Any technique is presented in great detail by its own inventor or by one of the world-wide recognized main contributors. The exposition has a clear pedagogical cut and fully reports on the most relevant case study where the specific technique showed to be very successful in describing and enlightening the puzzling physics of a particular strongly correlated system. The book is intended for advanced graduate students and post-docs in the field as textbook and/or main reference, but also for other researchers in the field who appreciates consulting a single, but comprehensive, source or wishes to get acquainted, in a as painless as possible way, with the working details of a specific technique.

​​This is the first book that provides a detailed summary of one of the most successful new condensed matter theories - dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) - in both static and dynamical cases of systems of different sizes. DMFT is one of the most successful approaches to describe the physical properties of systems with strong electron-electron correlations such as bulk materials, multi-layers, surfaces, 2D materials and nanostructures in both metallic and insulating phases. Strongly correlated materials usually include partially-filled localized d- or f-orbitals, and DMFT takes into account crucial for these systems time-resolved interaction between electrons when they “meet” on one atom and occupy one of these orbitals. The First Part of the book covers the general formalism of DMFT as a many-body theory, followed by generalizations of the approach on the cases of finite systems and out-of-equilibrium regime. In the last Chapter of the First Part we discuss generalizations of the approach on the case when the non-local interactions are taken into account. The Second Part of the book covers methodologies of merging DMFT with ab initio static Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent DFT (TDDFT) approaches. Such combined DFT+DMFT and DMFT+TDDFT computational techniques allow one to include the effects of strong electron-electron correlations at the accurate ab initio level. These tools can be applied to complex multi-atom multi-orbital systems currently not accessible to DMFT. The book helps broad audiences of students and researchers from the theoretical and computational communities of condensed matter physics, material science, and chemistry to become familiar with this state-of-art approach and to use it for reaching a deeper understanding of the properties of strongly correlated systems and for synthesis of new technologically-important materials.

Gutzwiller wave function is an important theoretical technique for treating local electron-electron correlations nonperturbatively in condensed matter and materials physics. It is concerned with calculating variationally the ground state wave function by projecting out multi-occupation configurations that are energetically costly. The projection can be carried out analytically in the Gutzwiller approximation that offers an approximate way of calculating expectation values in the Gutzwiller projected wave function. This approach has proven to be very successful in strongly correlated systems such as the high temperature cuprate superconductors, the sodium cobaltates, and the heavy fermion compounds. In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that strongly correlated systems have a strong propensity towards forming inhomogeneous electronic states with spatially periodic superstrutural modulations. A good example is the commonly observed stripes and checkerboard states in high- Tc superconductors under a variety of conditions where superconductivity is weakened. There exists currently a real challenge and demand for new theoretical ideas and approaches that treats strongly correlated inhomogeneous electronic states, which is the subject matter of this thesis. This thesis contains four parts. In the first part of the thesis, the Gutzwiller approach is formulated in the grand canonical ensemble where, for the first time, a spatially (and spin) unrestricted Gutzwiller approximation (SUGA) is developed for studying inhomogeneous (both ordered and disordered) quantum electronic states in strongly correlated electron systems. The second part of the thesis applies the SUGA to the t-J model for doped Mott insulators which led to the discovery of checkerboard-like inhomogeneous electronic states competing with d -wave superconductivity, consistent with experimental observations made on several families of high-Tc superconductors. In the third part of the thesis, new concepts and techniques are developed to study the Mott transition in inhomogeneous electronic superstructures. The latter is termed "SuperMottness" which is shown to be a general framework that unifies the two paradigms in the physics of strong electronic correlation: Mott transition and Wigner crystallization. A cluster Gutzwiller approximation (CGA) approach is developed that treats the local (U) and extended Coulomb interactions (V) on equal footing. It is shown with explicit calculations that the Mott-Wigner metal-insulator transition can take place far away from half-filling. The mechanism by which a superlattice potential enhances the correlation effects and the tendency towards local moment formation is investigated and the results reveal a deeper connection among the strongly correlated inhomogeneous electronic states, the Wigner-Mott physics, and the multiorbital Mott physics that can all be united under the notion of SuperMottness. It is proposed that doping into a superMott insulator can lead to coexistence of local moment and itinerant carriers. The last part of the thesis studies the possible Kondo effect that couples the local moment and the itinerant carriers. In connection to the sodium rich phases of the cobaltates, a new Kondo lattice model is proposed where the itinerant carriers form a Stoner ferromagnet. The competition between the Kondo screening and the Stoner ferromagnetism is investigated when the conduction band is both at and away from half-filling.

This book focuses on the topological fermion condensation quantum phase transition (FCQPT), a phenomenon that reveals the complex behavior of all strongly correlated Fermi systems, such as heavy fermion metals, quantum spin liquids, quasicrystals, and two-dimensional systems, considering these as a new state of matter. The book combines theoretical evaluations with arguments based on experimental grounds demonstrating that the entirety of very different strongly correlated Fermi systems demonstrates a universal behavior induced by FCQPT. In contrast to the conventional quantum phase transition, whose physics in the quantum critical region are dominated by thermal or quantum fluctuations and characterized by the absence of quasiparticles, the physics of a Fermi system near FCQPT are controlled by a system of quasiparticles resembling the Landau quasiparticles. The book discusses the modification of strongly correlated systems under the action of FCQPT, representing the “missing” instability, which paves the way for developing an entirely new approach to condensed matter theory; and presents this physics as a new method for studying many-body objects. Based on the authors’ own theoretical investigations, as well as salient theoretical and experimental studies conducted by others, the book is well suited for both students and researchers in the field of condensed matter physics.