Numerical studies of conjugated polymers

Conjugated polymers are well described by a simple one dimensional electron‐phonon model. The characteristic one‐dimensional lattice instability leads to the formation of localized excitations such as solitons and polarons. Many important solutions of the Hamiltonian can be obtained by iterating the Hartree equations. But there are some subtle questions such as the effect of Coulomb interactions and quantum lattice fluctuations for which one needs to go beyond the mean field treatment. A numerical scheme for carrying out such studies is discussed.