Brief descriptions of nine key works of David Langreth

This is the list I use in grant applications where one is limited to a maximum of ten. More recent publications which may be candidates for this list are available electronically. See Langreth homepage for further information.

1. Derivation of a Master Equation for Charge Transfer Processes in Atom-Surface Collisions, D. C. Langreth and P. Nordlander, Phys. Rev. B, 43, 2531 (1991). Generalized the non-crossing approximation of correlated-electron theory to the time-dependent non-equilibrium situation, and showed the conceptual importance to problems in surface physics. Generalized the usual master equation to the case with strong intra-atomic Coulomb repulsion.

2. Energy Transfer at Surfaces: Asymmetric Line Shapes and the Electron-Hole Pair Mechanism, D. C. Langreth, Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 126 (1985). The forerunner of modern vibrational lineshape theory, establishing the importance of direct coupling of the probe to the substrate electrons.

3. Beyond the Local-Density Approximation in Calculations of Ground-State Electronic Properties, D. C. Langreth and M. J. Mehl, Phys. Rev. B 28, 1809 (1983).The forerunner of the modern generalized gradient approximations, which established that the idea was physically sound, and also that it gave good results. The application of the latter has proved crucial in the calculation of reaction barriers at surfaces, as well as in the description of open structures in condensed matter. [To be reprinted in Principles and Applications of Density Functional Theory, edited by R. Martin, M. Schluter and L. J. Sham, World Scientific].

4. The Exchange-Correlation Energy of a Metallic Surface, D. C. Langreth and J. P. Perdew, Solid State Comm. 17, 1425 (1975) and Phys. Rev. B 15, 2884 (1977). By solving a then current problem is surface physics, provided a contribution to our fundamental understanding of the success of the local-density approximation in electronic density-functional theory, and derived the now widely applied density functional relationship known as the adiabatic connection formula . [The latter was derived independently by O. Gunnarsson and B. Lundqvist, Phys. Rev. B 13, 4274 (1976)]

5. Linear and Non-Linear Response Theory with Applications, D. C. Langreth, in Linear and Nonlinear Electron Transport in Solids, edited by J. T. Devreese and V. E. van Doren, Plenum Press, New York and London, 1976. Established the relationship between the Keldysh and Kadanoff-Baym methods and derived the so-called Langreth Theorem [see H. Haug and A.-P. Jauho, Quantum Kinetics in Transport and Optics of Semiconductors, Vol. 123 of Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences (Springer, Berlin, 1996)] for extracting the physical response functions. Application to x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at surfaces.

6. "Theory of Plasmon Effects in High Energy Spectroscopy" in Proceedings of Nobel Symposium 24 in Medicine and Natural Sciences , edited by B. Lundqvist and S. Lundqvist (Academic Press, New York and London, 1973), p. 210. The culmination of a series of papers (some with J. J. Chang) on intrinsic and extrinsic effects in x-ray photoemission and other spectroscopies, including surface and thin-film effects.

7. Singularities in the X-ray Spectra of Metals, D. C. Langreth, Phys. Rev. B 1, 471 (1970). Exact solution of model plasmaron problem, establishing the relationship between this, threshold singularity theory, and many-body perturbation treatments. It put forward techniques that have been widely applied in surface theory, and was a runner up for "This Week's Citation Classic" in Current Contents, July 16, 1990, page 19.

8. Polaron Mobility at Finite Temperature, D. C. Langreth, Phys. Rev. 159, 717 (1967). [Reprinted in Series of Selected Papers in Physics 53, 36 (1974)]. Established the correct low temperature behavior, thus righting the incorrect prediction of R. P. Feynman, et al., Phys. Rev. 127, 1004 (1962).

9. Friedel Sum Rule for Anderson's Model of Localized Impurity States, D. C. Langreth, Phys. Rev. 150, 516 (1966). Discovered one of the fundamental identities of correlated electron theory, now known as the Friedel-Langreth relation [see N. E. Bickers, Rev. Mod. Phys. 59, 845 (1987)], relating the Fermi level spectral density to the impurity electron number. Also proved the Friedel rule for general intra-atomic Coulomb interaction.
   Langreth - Nine key works / last updated January 30, 1998 / langreth@physics.rutgers.edu