Fröhlich polaron and bipolaron: recent developments

It is remarkable how the Fröhlich polaron, one of the simplest examples of a Quantum Field Theoretical problem, as it basically consists of a single fermion interacting with a scalar Bose field of ion displacements, has resisted full analytical or numerical solution at all coupling since ∼ 1950, when its Hamiltonian was first written. The field has been a testing ground for analytical, semi-analytical, and numerical techniques, such as path integrals, strong-coupling perturbation expansion, advanced variational, exact diagonalisation (ED), and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) techniques. This article reviews recent developments in the field of continuum and discrete (lattice) Fröhlich (bi)polarons starting with the basics and covering a number of active directions of research. Electronic address: [email protected] Electronic address: [email protected]