Equivalence of a One-Dimensional Fermion Model and the Two-Dimensional Coulomb Gas

Abstract

We show that the one-dimensional Luttinger model generalized to include spin and backward scattering is equivalent to a two-dimensional Coulomb gas. Scaling equations are derived and correlation functions are given simple physical interpretation in terms of the Coulomb gas; e.g., existence of an energy gap can be understood in terms of Debye screening. We conclude that an energy gap exists for ${U}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}<|{U}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}|$ so that triplet excitations are nondivergent, and we provide physical arguments to support the exponents proposed by Luther and Emery for singlet excitations for general coupling constant.