Emergence and spectral-weight transfer of electronic states in the Hubbard ladder

Abstract: The number of electronic bands is usually considered invariant regardless of the electron density in a band picture. However, in interacting systems, the spectral-weight distribution generally changes depending on the electron density, and electronic states can even emerge or disappear as the electron density changes. Here, to clarify how electronic states emerge and become dominant as the electron density changes, the spectral function of the Hubbard ladder with strong repulsion and strong intrarung hopping is studied using the non-Abelian dynamical density-matrix renormalization-group method. A mode emerging in the low-electron-density limit gains spectral weight as the electron density increases and governs the dimer Mott physics at quarter-filling. In contrast, the antibonding band, which is dominant in the low-electron-density regime, loses spectral weight and disappears at the Mott transition at half-filling, exhibiting the momentum-shifted magnetic dispersion relation in the small-doping limit. This paper identifies the origin of the electronic states responsible for the Mott transition and brings a new perspective to electronic bands by revealing the overall nature of electronic states over a wide energy and electron-density regime.