Lipkin translational-symmetry restoration in the mean-field and energy-density-functional methods

Abstract

Based on the 1960 idea of Lipkin, the minimization of energy of a symmetry-restored mean-field state is equivalent to the minimization of a corrected energy of a symmetry-broken state with the Peierls-Yoccoz mass. It is interesting to note that the "unphysical" Peierls-Yoccoz mass, and not the true mass, appears in the Lipkin projected energy. The Peierls-Yoccoz mass can be easily calculated from the energy and overlap kernels, which allows for a systematic, albeit approximate, restoration of translational symmetry within the energy-density formalism. Analogous methods can also be implemented for all other broken symmetries.