PH603: Advanced Condensed Matter Physics

School of Basic Sciences, IIT Mandi

Semester II, 2017

Instructor: Dr. Pradeep Kumar (SBS)

Problem Set - 3 Due Date: 27 April 2017

Total Marks : 110

Q.1. Consider the dispersion relation of a d dimensional hypercubic lattice as

d
E ( k ) E0 Cos(k a ) , where, k , 1,2,........d are the components of k.
1
(a) Calculate the density of states for d = 1 and sketch it as a function of energy. Find the
singular points in the DOS, if any?
(b) Identify similar singular points, if any, for d = 2 and obtain the DOS in their vicinity. Sketch
the DOS as a function of energy (You may take help of some plotting software such as
Mathematica, Matlab etc). (8)

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Q.2. Wannier functions for band i may be defined as (r Rn )
i

N
e
k
ki (r ) where
ik . Rn

ki (r ) is Bloch function for band i. Show that Wannier functions centred on different lattice

site form an orthonormal and complete set i.e. i (r Rn ) i (r Rm ) Rn , Rm and

i ( r Rn ) i ( r' Rn ) ( r r ') . (7)

Q.3. Tight Binding Model: Perfect crystalline solids are modelled by Hamiltonians with
periodic potentials. The wave functions of such Hamiltonians are plane waves modulated by a
function unk ( r ) , which has periodicity of the lattice i.e. unk ( r l ) unk (r ) , where l is the
d
vector in the Bravais lattice of the crystal (i.e. l l r 0, 1, 2, and r the primitive
1

vectors for the d-dimensional lattice that we are considering). Specifically the Bloch functions
1 ik.r
are nk e unk , where k is the crystal momentum which determines how much the phase
V
changes if we propagate by a lattice vector l , i.e. nk ( r l ) eik . l nk ( r ) . The crystal
momentum k is restricted to the first Brillouin zone (BZ) and other quantum number n, which

1
assumes integral values and is called the band index, compensates for the restriction of k to the
first BZ. (The above eigen states propagate with zero resistance as in the case of free particle.)
It is useful to introduce the Wannier functions, similar to as in previous question, (associated
1
with the band index n and lattice l via n ( r l )
N
ek
nk ( r ) , where N is the number
ik . l

of atoms). These functions are localised around the site l and for all n and l form a complete,
orthonormal basis. If the eigen energies associated with a particular band index n0 are well
separated from all other eigen energies, then the matrix elements of Hamiltonian H between
n ( r l ) and n ( r l ) are small if n0 n . In this case the subspace spanned by n ( r l )
0 0

and n ( r l ) decouples from rest. In the following we restrict ourselves to this subspace and

drop the subscript n0 for convenience. For the basis vectors we write ( r l ) r l . The

matrix elements of the H in the subspace are l H m l lm Vlm , i.e. we can write the

Hamiltonian as
H i i i i Vij j
i ij

(a) Write the above Hamiltonian using Fermion creation and annihilation operator i.e. in second
quantized notation. (3)
(b) Obtain the band structure for such a tight binding model in dimension d=1 if i for all

sites i and Vi j t for all the nearest neighbour pairs of sites but zero otherwise. From your

band structure calculate (you can solve this problem either by starting with given H or starting
with second quantized version of H as in part a. You can decide yourself which one is
convenient to work with)
(i) The density of states.
(ii) The mean velocity of an electron in a level with wave vector k.
(iii) The effective mass of the carriers as a function of k. (12)

(c) Obtain the band structure for such a tight binding model for the square lattice in d=2 and
the simple cubic lattice in d=3. Plot your band structure along high symmetry directions; e.g.
for the simple cubic lattice, plot the band structure as you move along , W , and W in the
Brillouin zone. Also obtain density of states near band edges. (12)

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Q.4. Consider a 1D systems with two different atoms. N-atoms of type A are located at
positions x = Rm = 2mc, m=1,2,3----N; and an equal number of atoms are located at x =
Rn=(2n+1)c, n=1,2,----N. Each atom has one electron and one orbital. The orbital for atoms at
Rm, Rn are m ( x Rm ) , n ( x Rn ) , respectively. Assuming that orbitals are orthonormal i.e.

m m ' mm ' , n n ' nn ' and m n 0

P2
The single electron Hamiltonian is given as H U ( x) , where U(x) is a periodic function
2m
of underlying Bravais lattice. The matrix elements of the H are given as

m H m ' A mm ' , n H n ' B nn ' and m H n t if m and n are nearest

neighbours, =0 else.
(a) Find the eigenvalues of H. (Hint: First find the eigen function/basis functions for H which
satisfy the Blochs theorem from orbital functions via Fourier transform)
(b) Plot the eigenvalues of H for t=1, and A B t and A B t (14)

Q.5. Consider a 1D box which have non-interacting spin-less particles, the energy levels of
which in some units are 2 with associated annihilation operator c .

(a) Write an expression for the Hamiltonian of the system in terms of creation and annihilation
operators. Will this expression be different for Bosons and Fermions ?

(b) Write an expression for the number operator of the system in terms of creation and
annihilation operators. Will this expression be different for Bosons and Fermions ?

(c) We put two spin-less Fermions in this box. Starting from vacuum state i.e. , construct

all possible states of this two fermion system. Are these states energy eigenstates ? Also, verify
that the state you have constructed are indeed two-particle states by an explicit calculation.

(d) Repeat problem c for Bosons. (16)

Q.6. For a spin half particle, c and c operating on vacuum state create the eigen states of the

Sz operator.

(a) Derive an expression for the spin operator S in terms of c and c and their conjugate.

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(b) Write an expression for the eigen states of Sx in terms of c and c and . Using the

previous expression for S, verify that your answer is correct. (10)

Q.7. Density operator for Fermions is defined as n(r ) (r ) (r ) where (r ) and (r ) are
field operators which creates and destroy a particle at position r, respectively. Find the Fourier
transform of density operator i.e. n(q ) . (6)

Q.8. Show that the Field operators satisfy the following relations:

(i) For Bosons [ (r ), (r ')] (r r ')

(ii) For Fermions { (r ), (r ')} (r r ') (6)

Q.9. (a) Two body operator in Second quantization is given as

H (2)

Hi jlm Ci Cj Cl Cm
i, j, l, m

Where, Hi jlm i j H l m . Show that for Columbic potential i.e. H U (r r ') the

above operator can be written in k-basis (momentum representation) as

1
H (2)
V k ,k ',q
U qCk qCk'qCk 'Ck , where U q is the Fourier transform of potential and V is the

volume. Plot this interaction (in momentum basis) in the form of a diagram called Feynman
diagram.

(b) Evaluate the Fourier transform of the potential of the form U (r ) 1/ r in 3D. (16)