Second random-phase approximation, Thouless' theorem and the stability condition reexamined and clarified

Abstract

It has been revealed through numerical calculations that the Second Random Phase Approximation (SRPA) with the Hartree-Fock solution as its reference state results in 1) spurious states at genuinely finite energy, contrary to common expectation, and 2) unstable solutions, which within the first-order Random Phase Approximation correspond to real low-energy collective vibrations. In the present work, these shortcomings of SRPA are shown to not contradict Thouless' theorem about the energy-weighted sum rule, and their origin is traced to the violation of the stability condition. A more general theorem is proven. Formal arguments are elucidated through numerical examples. Implications for the validity of SRPA are discussed.

Comments: 11 pages, incl. 5 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev. C