Ab initio path-integral Monte Carlo results for the one-particle spectral function of the warm dense electron gas

TL;DR

This paper presents ab initio path-integral Monte Carlo calculations of the spectral function and self-energy of the warm dense electron gas, providing benchmark results and enabling first-principles studies of real warm dense matter.

Contribution

It offers approximation-free, ab initio results for the spectral function and self-energy of the uniform electron gas at finite temperature, advancing the understanding of warm dense matter.

Findings

Benchmark results for the spectral function and self-energy.

Approximation-free calculations over a range of coupling strengths.

Potential for first-principles studies of real warm dense matter.

Abstract

We compute quasi-exact \emph{ab initio} path-integral Monte Carlo results for the Matsubara Green's function of the uniform electron gas (UEG) at finite temperature over a broad range of coupling strengths ($r_s=1,\dots,10)$. This allows us to present approximation-free results for the static self-energy $\Sigma_\infty(p)$ and spectral function $A(p,\omega)$, and to benchmark previous approximate results for the UEG. In addition, our work opens up intriguing avenues to study the single-particle spectrum and density of states of real warm dense matter systems based on truly first principles.