Analytic continuation of multipoint correlation functions

TL;DR

This paper develops a formal method to analytically continue multipoint correlation functions from imaginary to real frequencies, bridging Matsubara and Keldysh formalisms for thermal equilibrium systems.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic approach to obtain all Keldysh components of multipoint correlators from Matsubara data using a spectral function representation.

Findings

Validated method on Hubbard atom correlators

Established connection between MF and KF multipoint correlators

Provided a practical recipe for analytic continuation of multipoint functions

Abstract

Conceptually, the Matsubara formalism (MF), using imaginary frequencies, and the Keldysh formalism (KF), formulated in real frequencies, give equivalent results for systems in thermal equilibrium. The MF has less complexity and is thus more convenient than the KF. However, computing dynamical observables in the MF requires the analytic continuation from imaginary to real frequencies. The analytic continuation is well-known for two-point correlation functions (having one frequency argument), but, for multipoint correlators, a straightforward recipe for deducing all Keldysh components from the MF correlator had not been formulated yet. Recently, a representation of MF and KF correlators in terms of formalism-independent partial spectral functions and formalism-specific kernels was introduced by Kugler, Lee, and von Delft [Phys. Rev. X 11, 041006 (2021)]. We use this representation to formally elucidate the connection between both formalisms. We show how a multipoint MF correlator can be analytically continued to recover all partial spectral functions and yield all Keldysh components of its KF counterpart. The procedure is illustrated for various correlators of the Hubbard atom.