arXiv subjects

Tommaso Chiarotti

Publications and source records attributed to Tommaso Chiarotti.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

First-principles real-space embedding theory of the superconducting proximity effect

When a superconductor is placed in contact with a normal material, Cooper pairs penetrate the latter and induce superconductivity via the proximity effect. Despite its central role in quantum materials, superconducting devices and topological platforms, a predictive first-principles description of the proximity effect at realistic interfaces has remained computationally prohibitive so far. Here, we fill this gap by developing a Green's-function framework based on real-space dynamical embedding that enables first-principles simulations of superconducting proximity in mesoscopic systems. We show that the proximity effect admits a transparent diagrammatic formulation in terms of normal and anomalous embedding self-energies, which disentangle and quantify the distinct renormalization mechanisms generated by coupling to a superconducting bath. By combining this formalism with recursive schemes, we compute local spectral functions and proximity lengths extending over hundreds of nanometers into the bulk without resorting to thick interface slabs. We deploy the approach on tight-binding models (Qi-Hughes-Zhang and Fu-Kane-Mele), where we analyze mixed-parity superconductivity in topological insulators proximitized by $s$-wave superconductors, and on first-principles simulations of NbSe$_2$/CrBr$_3$ heterostructures based on density-functional theory and maximally-localized Wannier functions, the latter enabling direct comparison with scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments. Our work provides a scalable and conceptually unified framework that bridges microscopic electronic structure and mesoscale proximity physics, enabling predictive atomistic simulations of superconducting interfaces.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2026

Dynamical pseudopotentials

Pseudopotential theory has greatly driven first-principles calculations in materials, replacing the explicit treatment of the chemically inert core electrons with an effective potential acting only on the valence states. This is inherently an embedding problem, where tracing out the core electrons can be formulated in terms of a dynamical embedding potential. Motivated by this perspective, we first introduce a framework for dynamical (i.e., energy-dependent) pseudopotentials, showing how this leads to generalized norm-conservation conditions. Then, adopting a sum-over-poles representation, we disentangle the number of reference energies from the number of projectors; this allows to reproduce all-electron scattering at many reference energies with great accuracy and over very extended energy ranges. We further show that these pseudopotentials enter naturally into many-body total energy functionals, leading for the first time to a consistent and unified treatment of the all-electron atom, the pseudo-atom, and the solid within the same electronic-structure theory.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Electronic Structure and Dynamical Correlations in Antiferromagnetic BiFeO$_3$

We study the electronic structure and dynamical correlations in antiferromagnetic BiFeO$_3$, a prototypical room-temperature multiferroic, using a variety of static and dynamical first-principles methods. Conventional static Hubbard corrections (DFT+$U$, DFT+$U$+$V$) incorrectly predict a deep-valence Fe $3d$ peak (around $-7\,\text{eV}$) in antiferromagnetic BiFeO$_3$, in contradiction with hard-X-ray photoemission. We resolve this failure by using a recent generalization of DFT+$U$ to include a frequency-dependent screening -- DFT+$U(ω)$ -- or using a dynamical Hubbard functional (dynH). The screened Coulomb interaction $U(ω)$, computed with spin-polarized RPA and projected onto maximally localized Fe $3d$ Wannier orbitals, is expressed as a sum-over-poles, yielding a self-energy that augments the Kohn--Sham Hamiltonian. This DFT+$U(ω)$ approach predicts a fundamental band gap of $1.53\,\text{eV}$, consistent with experiments, and completely eliminates the unphysical deep-valence peak. The resulting simulated HAXPES spectrum reproduces the experimental lineshape with an accuracy matching or exceeding that of far more demanding DFT+DMFT calculations. Our work demonstrates the critical nature of dynamical screening in complex oxides and establishes DFT+$U(ω)$ as a predictive, computationally efficient method for correlated materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Self-consistent dynamical Hubbard functional for correlated solids

Many-body functionals of the Green's function can provide fundamental advances in electronic-structure calculations, due to their ability to accurately predict both spectral and thermodynamic properties, such as angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments and total energies of materials. However, fully first-principles, self-consistent calculations with these dynamical functionals remain a major challenge, ultimately limiting their application to thermodynamic quantities, and restricting spectral predictions to one-shot calculations. In this paper, we present a fully self-consistent treatment of the electronic structure of solids using a dynamical functional. Our approach leverages the so-called dynamical Hubbard functional, which generalizes the DFT+$U$ correction by incorporating frequency-dependent screening, augmenting the static density functional to accurately describe both spectral and thermodynamic properties of materials with $d$- or $f$-localized orbitals near the Fermi level. To enable this, we employ the algorithmic-inversion method based on a sum-over-poles representation, resulting in a numerically accurate self-consistent scheme for frequency-integrated properties, while keeping real-axis spectral resolution for dynamically-resolved quantities. Using this framework, we study the paradigmatic correlated solid SrVO$_3$, accurately reproducing its spectral features, essentially confirming previous one-shot predictions, and improving the description of its equilibrium properties, such as the equilibrium volume and bulk modulus, bringing these significantly closer to experimental measurements.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Broken symmetry solutions in one-dimensional lattice models via many-body perturbation theory

In this work we study self-consistent solutions in one-dimensional lattice models obtained via many-body perturbation theory. The Dyson equation is solved in a fully self-consistent manner via the algorithmic-inversion method based on the sum-over-poles representation (AIM-SOP) of dynamical operators. In particular, we focus on the GW approximation, analyzing the spectral properties and the emergence of possible magnetic- or charge-density-wave broken symmetry solutions. We start by validating our self-consistent AIM-SOP implementation by taking as test case the one-dimensional Hubbard model. We then move to the study of antiferromagnetic and charge density wave solutions in one-dimensional lattice models, taking into account a long-range Coulomb interaction between the electrons. We show that moving from local to non-local electronic interactions leads to a competition between antiferromagnetic and charge-density-wave broken symmetry solutions. Complementary, by solving the Sham-Schlüter equation, we can compute the non-interacting Green's function reproducing the same charge density of the interacting system. In turn, this allows for the evaluation of the derivative discontinuity of the Kohn-Sham (KS) potential, showing that its contribution to the fundamental gap can become dominating in some of the studied cases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Dynamical Hubbard approach to correlated materials: the case of transition-metal monoxides

Electronic correlations beyond static mean-field theories are of fundamental importance in describing the properties of complex materials - such as transition-metal oxides - where the low-energy physics is driven by localized d or f electrons. Here, we show that it is possible to capture these correlations with a local and dynamical self energy, extending to the spin-polarized and multi-site case our recently introduced dynamical Hubbard functional formulation. We apply this formalism to the prototypical transition-metal monoxide series of MnO, FeO, CoO, and NiO in their ground state, finding excellent agreement with experiments for the spectral properties. The results are comparable or improved with respect to state-of-the-art theories, both for the densities of states and for the spectral functions - including band renormalization and spectral weight transfer - in a numerically efficient and physically transparent treatment of correlations amenable to the study of realistic, complex materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Energies and spectra of solids from the algorithmic inversion of dynamical Hubbard functionals

Energy functionals of the Green's function can simultaneously provide spectral and thermodynamic properties of interacting electrons' systems. Though powerful in principle, these formulations need to deal with dynamical (frequency-dependent) quantities, increasing the algorithmic and numerical complexity and limiting applications. We first show that, when representing all frequency-dependent propagators as sums over poles, the typical operations of dynamical formulations become closed (i.e., all quantities are expressed as sums over poles) and analytical. Importantly, we map the Dyson equation into a nonlinear eigenvalue problem that can be solved exactly; this is achieved by introducing a fictitious non-interacting system with additional degrees of freedom which shares, upon projection, the same Green's function of the real system. Last, we introduce an approximation to the exchange-correlation part of the Klein functional adopting a localized $GW$ approach; this is a generalization of the static Hubbard extension of density-functional theory with a dynamical screened potential $U(ω)$. We showcase the algorithmic efficiency of the methods, and the physical accuracy of the functional, by computing the spectral, thermodynamic, and vibrational properties of SrVO$_3$, finding results in close agreement with experiments and state-of-the-art methods, at highly reduced computational costs and with a transparent physical interpretation.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

On Green's function embedding using sum-over-pole representations

In Green's function theory, the total energy of an interacting many-electron system can be expressed in a variational form using the Klein or Luttinger-Ward functionals. Green's function theory also naturally addresses the case where the interacting system is embedded into a bath. This latter can then act as a dynamical (i.e., frequency-dependent) potential, providing a more general framework than that of conventional static external potentials. Notably, the Klein functional includes a term of the form $\text{Tr}_ω\text{Ln}\left\{G_0^{-1}G\right\}$, where $\text{Tr}_ω$ is the frequency integration of the trace operator. Here, we show that using a sum-over-pole representation for the Green's functions and the algorithmic-inversion method one can obtain in full generality an explicit analytical expression for $\text{Tr}_ω\text{Ln}\left\{G_0^{-1}G\right\}$. This allows one, e.g., to derive a variational expression for the Klein functional in the presence of an embedding bath, or to provide an explicit expression of the RPA correlation energy in the framework of the optimized effective potential.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

A unified Green's function approach for spectral and thermodynamic properties from algorithmic inversion of dynamical potentials

Dynamical potentials appear in many advanced electronic-structure methods, including self-energies from many-body perturbation theory, dynamical mean-field theory, electronic-transport formulations, and many embedding approaches. Here, we propose a novel treatment for the frequency dependence, introducing an algorithmic inversion method that can be applied to dynamical potentials expanded as sum over poles. This approach allows for an exact solution of Dyson-like equations at all frequencies via a mapping to a matrix diagonalization, and provides simultaneously frequency-dependent (spectral) and frequency-integrated (thermodynamic) properties of the Dyson-inverted propagators. The transformation to a sum over poles is performed introducing $n$-th order generalized Lorentzians as an improved basis set to represent the spectral function of a propagator, and using analytic expressions to recover the sum-over-poles form. Numerical results for the homogeneous electron gas at the $G_0W_0$ level are provided to argue for the accuracy and efficiency of such unified approach.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Frequency dependence in GW made simple using a multi-pole approximation

In the $GW$ approximation, the screened interaction $W$ is a non-local and dynamical potential that usually has a complex frequency dependence. A full description of such dependence is possible but often computationally demanding. For this reason, it is still common practice to approximate $W(ω)$ using a plasmon pole (PP) model. Such approach, however, may deliver an accuracy limited by its simplistic description of the frequency dependence of the polarizability, i.e. of $W$. In this work we explore a multi-pole approach (MPA) and develop an effective representation of the frequency dependence of $W$. We show that an appropriate sampling of the polarizability in the frequency complex plane and a multi-pole interpolation can lead to a level of accuracy comparable with full-frequency methods at much lower computational cost. Moreover, both accuracy and cost are controllable by the number of poles used in MPA. Eventually we validate the MPA approach in selected prototype systems, showing that full-frequency quality results can be obtained with a limited number of poles.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗