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Static and dynamic variational principles for strongly correlated electron systems

The equilibrium state of a system consisting of a large number of strongly interacting electrons can be characterized by its density operator. This gives a direct access to the ground-state energy or, at finite temperatures, to the free energy of the system as well as to other static physical quantities. Elementary excitations of the system, on the other hand, are described within the language of Green's functions, i.e. time- or frequency-dependent dynamic quantities which give a direct access to the linear response of the system subjected to a weak time-dependent external perturbation. A typical example is angle-revolved photoemission spectroscopy which is linked to the single-electron Green's function. Since usually both, the static as well as the dynamic physical quantities, cannot be obtained exactly for lattice fermion models like the Hubbard model, one has to resort to approximations. Opposed to more ad hoc treatments, variational principles promise to provide consistent and controlled approximations. Here, the Ritz principle and a generalized version of the Ritz principle at finite temperatures for the static case on the one hand and a dynamical variational principle for the single-electron Green's function or the self-energy on the other hand are introduced, discussed in detail and compared to each other to show up conceptual similarities and differences. In particular, the construction recipe for non-perturbative dynamic approximations is taken over from the construction of static mean-field theory based on the generalized Ritz principle. Within the two different frameworks, it is shown which types of approximations are accessible, and their respective weaknesses and strengths are worked out. Static Hartree-Fock theory as well as dynamical mean-field theory are found as the prototypical approximations.