Preliminaries: you have,

0
0
, ,
0 0
Tr[ ] Tr[ ]
; Tr[ ] ;
Tr[ ]
H
nn
n n n n
A e A
A n n A n n n A n
Z
|

'
' '
' ' ' =

(1.1)

Green function equivalent to wavefunction. Retarded and advanced Green functions are defined as,

,
,

,
[8.28] ( ; ) ( ) [ ( ), ( )]
; , "bosons, fermions"; [, ] [, ] ;
[8.30] ( ; ) ( ) [ ( ), ( )]
R
B F
B F
A
B F
t
t
G t t t t t
B F
G t t t t t
o o
o o
o o
o o
'

'
( ' ' ' ' ' O + +
(
=
( ' ' ' ' ' O
'
+ +

'
r r i r r
r r i r r
(1.2)

Sidenote: Some textbooks (see the Appendixs reference to SSP 10, (1.27)) write (1.2) as,

,
, ,
( ; ) ( , ) [ ( ) ( )] ; ( ) ; ( ) ;
B F R A
t t B F
G G t t G T t t G t G G G t t t
o o
o o
' '
' ' ' ' ' ' = = = + + = O = ' ' O r r 1 1 i r r (1.3)

For non-interacting particles: (1.2) is equivalent to the single-particle wavefunction, which is,

( ) ( )
[8.22] ( , ) ( ) | | ( ) | | ;
n
E t t R H t t
n n
n
G G t t e t t e | |
'
' '
' '
'
' ' ' ' ' = = O = O

i i
1 1 i r r i r r (1.4)

2
nd
type of single-particle Green-function: the greater and lesser Greens functions,


( , ) ( ) ( ) ; ( , ) ( 1) ( ) ( ) ;
B
F
G G t t t t G G t t t t
o o o o
o o o o
> > < <
' '
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' = = + + = = + + r r i r r r r i r r (1.5)

Looking at (1.2) and (1.5), we see that { , }
R A
G G and { , } G G
> <
span the same solution space. Therefore: there is
a linear transformation between them, and it is,

( ) ( )
( ) ( )
R
A
t t t t G G
t t t t G G
>
<
' ' O O ( ( (
=
( ( (
' ' O O

(1.6)

The Green functions (1.6) can propagate a single particle,

n a a =
k k k
, using the many particle H.

Basis switch: you go from a realspace basis to an arbitrary
1
one by using,

*
,
( ; ) ( ) ( , ) ( ); ( , ) ( ) [ ( ), ( )]
R R R
B F
G t t G t t G t t t t a t a t
v v vo v o
vv
o o o vo v o o vo v o
' ' '
'
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' = = O

r r r r i (1.7)

Example: consider a translation-invariant system. For starters, consider the retarded Green function of (1.2),
and to study translational-invariance consider the specific functional form ( ; ) ( , ; )
R R
G t t G t t o o o o ' ' ' ' ' ' = r r r r .
Using (1.7), go to a momentum (k) space representation,

( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
,
,
( , ; ) ( ; ) ( ; )
( , , ) ( ) [ ( ), ( )]
R R R R
R
B F
G G t t e G t t e e G t t e
e G t t e t t a t a t
o o
o o o o o o
o
o
o
' ' ' ' ' - - - -
' '
' ' - -
' '
'
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' = = =
' ' ' ' = = O


i k r i k r i k r r i k k r
kk kk
i k r r i k r
k
r
k k
k
k
k
r r k k k
k i
V V
(1.8)

Example: compute the G
>
of (1.5) for free electrons. Then, its natural to use (1.7) to go to k-space. In doing
so, we notice that G
>
uses

( ) ( ) t t
o o'
' ' + + r r rather than a commutator (in contrast to G
R
).

The k-basis: The Hamiltonian is diagonal,

H c c
o o o
o
=
k k k
k
. Thus the Green function
0 0
G G G o
> > >
'
= =
kk
, and
so, the Green function appears in the k-basis as,

1
Arbitrary in the sense of the representation
*
*
[1.69] ( ) | ( ) | a a
v v v v
v v
= = + = +

r r r r .

( )
0 0 0 0
( , ) ( , ) ( ; ) ( ) ( ) ;
t t
G G t t G t t G t t c t c t c c e

oo o o o o
o o o o o o o
' > > > >
' '
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' = = = = =
k
i
kk k k k k
k k k k k i i (1.9)

By the Heisenberg equation of motion, we can find time-evolution
2
of the operators,


. .
( ) [ ( ), ] [ , ] [ , ] [ , ]
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Ht Ht Ht Ht Ht Ht
t t D C Ht Ht
a t a t H e a e H e a a e e a a e
e a t e a t a t e a a e a t
a a
v v
v v v v v v v v v v v
v v
c c
v vv v v v v v v v
v
c c
c o c

' '

' ' ' ' '
' '
+
' ' '
'
= = =
= = = =

i i i i i i
i i i i
i
(1.10)

In this rare case, we can write down all four Green functions. Using

1 ( )
F
c c n
o o
=
k k k
in (1.5), yielding,

( )
( )
0
( )
0
( ; ) 1 ( )
hole
electro [propagator of ] ;
( ; ) ( 1) (
ns
) [propagator of ] ; s
t t t t
F
t t t t
F
G t t c e c e n e
G t t c e c e n e

o o

o o
o
o
' ' >
' ' <
' = = =
' = = =
k k k
k k k
i i i
k k k
i i i
k k k
k i i
k i i
(1.11)

At zero temperature, the matrix element of
0
G
>
(assuming nothing about homogeneity,
0 0
G G o
> >
'
=
kk
) is,

0
( ) ( )
0
( , , ) | ( ) ( ) | | [overlap integral]; ;
E t t H t t
G t t G c t c t G G c e c e G FS
' ' >
' '
' ' ' = = = =
i i
k k k k
k k i i (1.12)

Transforming
0
G
>
to the frequency domain,

( )
( )
0 0 0
( )
2 2
( ; ) [ ( ; )] [ 1 ( ) ]
(1 ( )) (1 ( )) ( )
t t
F
t t t
F F
G G G t t n e
n e e dt n

e
t t
o e o
o e
' > > >
'
' = = =
= =
}
k
k
i
k
i i
k k k i i
k k i F F
(1.13)

We could also inverse-transform (1.13) from the k domain to the r domain; for this we require the density of
states
2
3/2 3/2 2
1
2
2
[2.31] ( ) (2 ) ( ) /
dn
d
d m m
c
c
t
c c c t = O = , yielding,

??
3
1 0 0
3
2 2 3
3
3/
0
?
2
2
( , ; ) ( ; )
[ ] (1 ( )) ( )
2 2 (2 )
(1 ( )) ( )
2 2 (2 )
( , ; ) (2 )
( )(1 ( ))sinc( )
2
...
2
F
F
F
G G d k
n e
k k d k
n e
m m
G m
n k
e
e
o e o e
o e
t t t
o
t
o e
c c
t t
> >
-
-
>
'
= =

=
'
' = = O

}
}
ik r
k k
ik r
k
k
r r k
i i
r r
r r
i
F
(1.14)

Thus, there are three effects 1) the density of states 2) the availability of empty states 1 ( )
F
n
k
and 3) quantum
interference sinc( ) k
e
' r r , which is the amplitude of a spherical wave spreading from point ' r .

The Lehmann representation

Problem: Fourier transform ( , , ) G G t t v
> >
' = to the energy basis. Solution: use G
>
of (1.5); using the
definition of an expected-value in a discrete-basis (see preliminaries, (1.1)) this appears as,

( )

1 1 1 1 1
( , , ) ( ) ( ) Tr ( ) ( ) | ( ) ( ) |
H H
n
G G t t t t e c t c t n e c t c t n
Z Z
| |
o o vo v o vo v o
v v v
> >
' ' ' ' '
' ' ' ' ' = = + + = =

1 1 1
i i i
(1.15)

Then, using the time-evolution of the

c c
vo vo
, the Green function (1.15) appears as,

2
This is done in SSP 06 - 084 - creation and annihilation operators in heisenberg picture.

1
, , ,

1
,

1 1
,
| | | |
| |
| |
n n n n n
n n n n n
H Ht Ht Ht Ht
Z
n n n n
E E t E t E t E t
Z
n n
E E t E t E t E t
Z
n n
G n n n e e c e n n e c e n n n
n e e c e n n e c e n
G e e e e e n c n n c n
|
vo v o
|
vo v o
|
vo v o
' '
' '
' ' >
' '
' '' '''
' ' +
' '
'
' ' + >
' '
'
''' ''' ' ' '' '' =
' ' =
' ' = =

i i i i
i
i i i i
i
i i i i
i i
( )( )
,
| | | | ;
n n n
E E E t t
Z
n n
e e n c n n c n
|
vo v o
'
'
' '
'
' '

i
(1.16)

Fourier-trnasforming (1.16) into the e -domain is easy (just use the kernel
( ) t t
e
e ' + i
and
1
2
( )
kx
x e dx
t
o

= }
i
),

( )( ) ( )
1
,

1
,
( ; ) [ ( ; )] [ ] | | | |
[2 ( )] | | | | ;
n n n
n
E E E t t t t
t Z
n n
E
n n Z
n n
G G G t t e e e dt n c n n c n
e E E n c n n c n
| e
v v
|
v v
v e v
to e
'
' ' > > >
'

'
'
' ' ' = = =
' ' = +

} }

i i
i
i
F
(1.17)

And: notice what happens when we similarly construct ( ; , ) G t t v
<
' ,

( )( )
1
,
1
( ; , ) | ( ) ( ) | | | | |
n n n
E E E t t
n n
G G t t n t t n e n c n n c n e
Z
|
o o v v
v
'
' < <

'
'

' ' ' ' ' = = + + =

i
i
I r I r I
i
(1.18)

Next, transform to ( ; ) G v e
<
, again using the kernel
( ) t t
e
e ' + i
. Interchanging sum indices as n n' and
anticipating the effect of the Dirac delta function by replacing
n n
E E e
'
= + , we get,

( )( ) ( )
,

,
( )
1
( ; ) [ ( ; )] | | | | [ ]
1
| | | | [2 ( )]
2
| | | | [2 ( )]
2
|
n n
n
n
n
n
E E E t t t t
t
n n
E
n
n
E
n
n
n
n
n n
E
G G G t t e n c n n c n e e dt
Z
e n c c n E E
Z
e c n n c E E
Z
G e n
n n
n
c
n
Z
| e
v v
|
v v
|
v v
| e
v
v e v
to e
t
to e
t
'
'
'
'
'
'
' ' < < < +
'

+ <

' ' ' = = =

=
=
' '

'
' '
=

i i
i
i
i
i
F
,
| | | [2 ( )] ( ; ) ( ; ) ;
n n
n n
n n c n E E G e G
|e
v
to e v e v e
> <
'
'
' = =

(1.19)

Problem: compute the retarded Green function for fermions in the Lehmann representation.

( )

1
,
( ) ( )
1 1 1
, ,
0
( ; ) [ ( ; )] [ ( ; )] [ ( ), ( )]
[ ( ), ( )] Tr [ ( ), (
( )
( ) )]
R R R R
t t t B F
t H t
B F B F Z
t t G G G G t t a t a t
a t a t e dt e a t a t e d t t t
vo v o
e | e
vo v o vo v o
q q
v e v e v
' '
+
+ +
' ' ' '

' O
( ' ' = = = =

( ( ' ' = =

' O

} }
i
i
i
i
i i
i
F F F
(1.20)

Specializing to fermions, expanding the commutator

[ ( ), ( )] a t a t
vo v o ' '
' , denoting a c
vo vo
= , computing the trace in
the energy basis Tr | | | |
nn
n n n n
'
' ' =

, and distributing the Fourier-transform-integral.

( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
1
,
0 0
| | | | | | | | ;
n n n n n
E t E E t t E E t R
Z
n n
G e e n c n n c n dt e n c n n c n dt
| e q e q
v v v v
' '

+ + +
'
' ' ' ' = +

} }
i i i i i i
i
(1.21)

Effecting the integrals, we get the matrix elements,

( )

| | | | (0 1) | | | | (0 1)
1
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
| | | |
1
( ; ) ;
n
n n
B
F
E R
nn
n n n n
E E R
nn
n n
n c n n c n n c n n c n
G e
Z E E E E
n c n n c n
e e G
Z E E
v v v v
|
v v
| |
e q e q
v e
e q
'

'
' '

'
'
| | ' ' ' '
| = +
|
+ + +
\ .
' '
= =
+ +

i i i i i i i
i
(1.22)

Problem: compute the imaginary part of the Lehmann (energy) Green function (1.22), Im ( ; )
R
G v e . Solution:
Using
1
1
( ) ( ) ( )
x
x P x f x q to

+ = = i i , setting
n n
E E e
'
= , and using (1.19) to abbreviate the sum as G
>
,

( ) ( )
( )

| | | |

2 1

2
Im Im | | | | ( )
| | | | 1 ( ) (1 ) ( ; ) ;
n n n n
n n
n
n c n n c n
E E E E R
n n Z E E Z
nn nn
E
n n Z
nn
G e e n c n n c n e e E E
n c n n c n e e E E e G
v v | | | |
t
v v e q
| |e |e
t
v v
o e
o e v e
' '
'
' '

' + +
' '
>

'
'
| |
' ' = = +
|
\ .
' ' + =

i
i
(1.23)



Fluctuation-dissipation theorem

( ) ( , ) 2Im ( , ); ( , ) ( , ) 1 ( ) ; ( , ) ( , ) ( );
R
F F
A G G A n G A n v e v e v e v e e v e v e e
> <
= = = i i (1.24)

The spectral function

Problem: let 2Im [spectral function]
R
A G . This new object behaves like a probability-distribution. Show,
then, that 0 A> . Solution: Using (1.23), taking the expected value

,
( ; ) G
v e
v e
>
' = ++ in the , n n' -basis,
using
2
| | | | | | 0 n c n n c n n c n
v v v
' ' ' ' = > , and using cosh 0
x
e x

> (and sinh 0

x
e x

> ) we compute,

,
2
2
1
2
2
2 (1 ) ( ; ) 2 (1 )( ) 2(1 ) | | | |
4sinh | | 0
2(1 ) | | ; ;
4cosh | | 0
nn
x
nn
x
nn
nn
A e G e e n c n n c n
e x n c n
e n c n x
e x n c n
|e |e |e
v v
v e
v
|e
v
v
v e
|e
>
'

'

'
'
' ' ' = = ++ =

' ' >

' ' = = =

' ' >

i i i
(1.25)

1 1
2 2
[8.62] ( , 0) ( , ) ( , ) n n c c G G d A d
v v v v t t
v v e e v e e
+ +
< <

= = = =
} }
i i (1.26)

Appendix I Green function according to SSP 10

Green functions: define the following function,

1 2 1 2

1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2

2 1 2 1 1 2 1 2

( , , , ) 0 | [ ( ) ( )] | 0 [ ( ) ( )]

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
t t t t
G G X t X t T X X T X X
t t X X t t X X
o| o| o | o |
| o o |
= + + = + +
= O + + O + +
i i
i i
(1.27)