The bond-propagation (BP) algorithm for the specific heat of the two dimensional Ising model is developed and that for the internal energy is completed. Using these algorithms, we study the critical internal energy and specific heat of the model on the square lattice and triangular lattice with free boundaries. Comparing with previous works [X.-T. Wu et al Phys. Rev. E 86, 041149 (2012) and Phys. Rev. E 87, 022124 (2013)], we reach much higher accuracy (10 −26 ) of the internal energy and specific heat,compared to the accuracy 10 −11 of the internal energy and 10 −9 of the specific heat reached in the previous works. This leads to much more accurate estimations of the edge and corner terms. The exact values of some edge and corner terms are therefore conjectured. The accurate forms of finite-size scaling for the internal energy and specific heat are determined for the rectangle-shaped square lattice with various aspect ratios and various shaped triangular lattice. For the rectangle-shaped square and triangular lattices and the triangle-shaped triangular lattice, there is no logarithmic correction terms of order higher than 1/S, with S the area of the system. For the triangular lattice in rhombus, trapezoid and hexagonal shapes, there exist logarithmic correction terms of order higher than 1/S for the internal energy, and logarithmic correction terms of all orders for the specific heat.

Using the natural orbitals renormalization group (NORG) method, we have investigated the screening of the local spin of an Anderson impurity interacting with the helical edge states in a quantum spin Hall insulator. We find that there is a local spin formed at the impurity site and the local spin is completely screened by electrons in the quantum spin Hall insulator. Meanwhile, the local spin is screened dominantly by a single active natural orbital. We then show that the Kondo screening mechanism becomes transparent and simple in the framework of natural orbitals formalism. We project the active natural orbital respectively into real space and momentum space to characterize its structure. And we confirm the spin-momentum locking property of the edge states based on the occupancy of a Bloch state in the edge to which the impurity couples. Furthermore, we study the dynamical property of the active natural orbital represented by the local density of states, from which we observe the Kondo resonance peak.

A multi-channel Kondo model, where two or more equivalent but independent channels of electrons compete to screen a spin-1/2 impurity, shows overcompensation of the impurity spin, leading to the non-Fermi liquid behavior in various thermodynamic and transport properties. However, when the channel symmetry is broken, an impurity quantum phase transition can occur at zero temperature. Identification of an order parameter describing the impurity quantum phase transition is very difficult since it is beyond the conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson theory. By employing the natural orbitals renormalization group method, we have studied both two-channel and three-channel Kondo models, from the perspective of spin correlation between the impurity and electrons in electronic channels. Here we demonstrate that by introducing spin correlation ratio as an order parameter we can characterize impurity quantum phase transitions driven by channel asymmetry. Especially the universal critical exponents β of spin correlation ratio and ν of correlation length are explicitly determined by finite-size scaling analysis, namely β = 0.10(1), ν = 2.0(1) and β = 0.10(1), ν = 2.5(1) for the two-channel and three-channel Kondo models, respectively.

Using the natural orbitals renormalization group, we studied the problem of a localized spin-1 2 impurity coupled to two helical liquids via the Kondo interaction in a quantum spin Hall insulator, based on the Kane-Mele model defined in a finite zigzag graphene nanoribbon. We investigated the influence of the Kondo couplings with the helical liquids on both the static and dynamic properties of the ground state. The number and distinct spatial structures of the active natural orbitals (ANOs), which play essential roles in constructing the ground-state wave function, were first analyzed. Our numerical results indicate that two ANOs emerge, equal to the number of helical liquids. Specifically, at the coupling symmetry point, both ANOs are fully active with their spatial structures being respectively constituted by the different helical liquids. In comparison, when deviating from the symmetry point, only one ANO remains fully active, which is dominantly constructed by the helical liquid with the larger Kondo coupling. Local screening of the impurity, described by the impurity spin polarization and susceptibility, was further studied. It shows that at the coupling symmetry point, the impurity is maximally polarized and the spin susceptibility reaches the maximum. On the contrary, the impurity tends to be screened without polarization when the Kondo couplings deviate well from the symmetry point. The Kondo screening cloud, manifested by the spin correlation between the impurity and the conduction electrons, was finally explored. It is demonstrated that the Kondo cloud is mainly formed by the helical liquid with the larger Kondo coupling to the impurity. On the other hand, the spin-orbital coupling breaks the symmetry in spatial distribution of the spin correlation, leading to anisotropy in the Kondo cloud.

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