Improved Silbey-Harris polaron ansatz for the spin-boson model

Abstract: In this paper, the well-known Silbey-Harris (SH) polaron ansatz for the spin-boson model is improved by adding orthogonal displaced Fock states. The obtained results for the ground state in all baths converge very quickly within finite displaced Fock states and corresponding SH results are corrected considerably. Especially for the sub-Ohmic spin-boson model, the converging results are obtained for 0 < s < 1/2 in the fourth-order correction and very accurate critical coupling strengths of the quantum phase transition are achieved. Converging magnetization in the biased spin-boson model is also arrived at. Since the present improved SH ansatz can yield very accurate, even almost exact results, it should have wide applications and extensions in various spin-boson model and related fields.