Phase separation in the neutral Falicov-Kimball model

Abstract

The Falicov-Kimball model consists of spinless electrons and classical particles (ions) on a lattice. The electrons hop between nearest neighbor sites while the ions do not. We consider the model with equal numbers of ions and electrons and with a large on-site attractive force between ions and electrons. For densities 1/4 and 1/5 the ion configuration in the ground state had been proved to be periodic. We prove that for density 2/9 it is periodic as well. However, for densities between 1/4 and 1/5 other than 2/9 we prove that the ion configuration in the ground state is not periodic. Instead there is phase separation. For densities in (1/5,2/9) the ground state ion configuration is a mixture of the density 1/5 and 2/9 ground state ion configurations. For the interval (2/9,1/4) it is a mixture of the density 2/9 and 1/4 ground states.