Non-local Coulomb interactions and metal-insulator transition in Ti$_2$O$_3$: a cluster LDA+DMFT approach

Abstract

We present an ab initio quantum theory of the metal-insulator transition in Ti$_2$O$_3$. The recently developed cluster LDA+DMFT scheme is applied to describe the many-body features of this compound. The conventional single site DMFT cannot reproduce a low temperature insulating phase for any reasonable values of the Coulomb interaction. We show that the non-local Coulomb interactions and the strong chemical bonding within Ti-Ti pair is the origin of the small gap insulating ground state of Ti$_2$O$_3$.