Polaron features of the one-dimensional Holstein molecular crystal model

The polaron features of the one-dimensional Holstein model are investigated by improving a variational method introduced recently and based on a linear superposition of Bloch states that describe large and small polaron wave functions. The mean number of phonons, the polaron kinetic energy, the electron-phonon local correlation function, and the ground-state spectral weight are calculated and discussed. A crossover regime between large and small polarons for any value of the adiabatic parameter ω₀/t is found and a polaron phase diagram is proposed.