Mott transitions in the two-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model: Correlator projection method with projective dynamical mean-field approximation

The two-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model is studied by a nonperturbative analytic theory of correlator projection. The dynamical mean-field approximation (DMFA) is reproduced at the first-order projection and then improved by systematic inclusion of spatial correlations at higher orders. A geometrical frustration induces a first-order Mott transition surface with a finite-temperature critical end curve and related crossovers. Growth of antiferromagnetic correlations gives single-particle spectra strongly modified from DMFA with shadow bands and flat dispersions observed in high-Tc cuprates.