Coulomb interaction and charge neutrality: Pariser, Parr and Pople Hamiltonian versus the Extended Hubbard Hamiltonian

Abstract

The Extended Hubbard Hamiltonian used by the Condensed Matter community is nothing but a simplified version of the Pariser, Parr and Pople Hamiltonian, well established in the Quantum Chemistry community as a powerful tool to describe the electronic structure of π-conjugated planar Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH). We show that whenever the interaction potential is nonlocal, unphysical charge inhomogeneities may show up in finite systems, provided that electrons are not neutralized by the ion charges. Increasing the system size does not solve the problem when the potential has an infinite range, and for finite range potentials these charge inhomogeneities become slowly less important as the potential range decreases and/or the system size increases. Dimensionality does also play a major role. Examples in bi-dimensional systems, such as planar PAH and graphene, are discussed to some extent.