Two-cutoff renormalization and quantum versus classical aspects for the one-dimensional electron-phonon system

Abstract
We study the T=0 K properties of the electron-phonon system with Coulomb interaction using a two-cutoff renormalization procedure. We find that there exist two regimes. The "classical" regime is characterized by a classical amplitude order parameter and exists when the mean-field gap (pseudogap) Δ is larger than the phonon frequencies ωD. The order parameter for spinless fermions is increased in amplitude by a repulsive nearest-neighbor electron interaction. A repulsive Hubbard interaction in an incommensurate spin-12 fermion band will increase it at small ωD and decrease it at finite ωDEF. For half-filled spin-12 fermion band, however, the molecular crystal (MC) and Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) models behave in opposite ways, the former having its order parameter decrease with increasing Coulomb interaction. We predict a maximum in the SSH amplitude order parameter as a function of the Hubbard interaction when Δ is equal to the Hubbard gap. This agrees quite well with the result of the simulation of Hirsch. For Δ<ωD, we predict a change to a quantum behavior. In this regime long-range molecular order can only exist for a half-filled spin-12 fermion band whenever the effective electronic interaction is attractive and the umklapp processes are relevant. This quantum order is weakened and can be destroyed by a repulsive Coulomb interaction or a negative forward scattering. We predict the quantum to classical-amplitude crossover to occur when ΔωD. In the case of the MC model with spinless noninteracting fermions, it corresponds to the disappearance of long-range order at values in agreement with the calculation of Hirsch and Fradkin. We analyze the implications of these two regimes on the properties of quasione-dimensional solids, more specifically on the effect of interchain potential or hopping (t) couplings. The existence of classical or quantum gaps favors interchain particle-pair tunneling whereas the single-particle interchain hopping is quite pertinent whenever t is larger than these gaps.