The Flow Equation Approach to Many-Particle Systems (Springer Tracts in Modern Physics (217))

This self-contained introduction addresses the novel flow equation approach for many particle systems and provides an up-to-date review of the subject. The text first discusses the general ideas and concepts of the flow equation method, and then in a second part illustrates them with various applications in condensed matter theory. The third and last part of the book contains an outlook with current perspectives for future research.

This self-contained monograph addresses the flow equation approach to many-particle systems. The flow equation approach consists of a sequence of infinitesimal unitary transformations and is conceptually similar to renormalization and scaling methods. Flow equations provide a framework for analyzing Hamiltonian systems where these conventional many-body techniques fail. The text first discusses the general ideas and concepts of the flow equation method. In a second part these concepts are illustrated with various applications in condensed matter theory including strong-coupling problems and non-equilibrium systems. The monograph is accessible to readers familiar with graduate- level solid-state theory.