444 Ch.

8 Ferromagnetism in Hubbaxd Models

the interaction energy. We find that the domain where the Nagaoka
state may still be stable, is much smaller than (8.9) would predict. In
particular, there is a broad range of band filling in which the Nagaoka
state is unstable even at U = 0 .
The reduction of the interaction energy is not the only effect of
allowing for correlations. Both the t- and $-spin kinetic energies are
modified (the bands narrowed) because the $-spin electron has to avoid
the t-spin electrons. These correlation corrections are difficult to eval-
uate. In contrast to the Nagaoka state, the lowest-energy state of the
S = ( N - 2)/2 subspace is not exactly known, and we cannot deter-
mine the exact position of the spin-flip instability line which is defined
by AE(U,n ) = 0. Nevertheless, we can set a variational bound on the
S = ( N - 2)/2 energy. The true energy gain cannot be smaller than the
variational estimate and thus if the single-spin-flip process gains energy
even variationally, then the Nagaoka state is certainly unstable.
What should a correlated state be like? Its simplest form is easily
guessed at U = M, where it has to express that electrons are strictly
prohibited to share the same site. The trial ground state is obtained by
applying the projection operator

Pu=a = n(1- iijtiijjJ-) (8.15)

j

to the Hartree-Fock state I@)

I@SKA(U = 0 ) )
= &J=a I@) = n(1- fijtfijFtjJ.)Cq$CkptlN)
t a (8.16)
j

The operator Pu=- projects out configurations with a doubly occupied

site (in the present problem, there can be at most one doubly occupied
site, since there is only one $-electron).
At finite U , double occupancy is no longer prohibited; it is merely
undesirable, to a degree which depends on the value of U . The applica-
tion of the “softened” projector

P = n[l-(1 - ~ ) i i j + f i j ~ ] (8.17)
j

achieves that the amplitude of configurations with a doubly occupied

site is reduced by a factor q with respect to the Hartree-Fock value.