# Electronic correlations on a metallic nanosphere.

## Abstract

We consider the correlation functions in a gas of electrons moving within a thin layer on the surface of nanosize sphere. A closed form of expressions for the RKKY indirect exchange, superconducting Cooper loop and ‘density-density’ correlation function is obtained. The systematic comparison with planar results is made, the effects of spherical geometry are outlined. The quantum coherence of electrons leads to the enhancement of all correlations for the points–antipodes on the sphere. This effect is lost when the radius of the sphere exceeds the temperature coherence length.

Last years a considerable theoretical interest has been attracted to the electronic properties of cylindrical and spherical nanosize objects. This interest is mostly related to the physics of carbon macromolecules,  where the theoretical works are devoted to the band structure calculations  and to the effects of topology for the trasport and mechanical properties. The discussion of the topological aspects of electronic motion is primarily connected with carbon nanotubes  and is based on the analysis of the effective models, incorporating the particular geometry of the object.

Other branches of the condensed matter physics, where the spherical objects appear, concern the studies of the nonlinear optical response in composite materials  and the photonic crystals on the base of synthetic opals.  In case of opals, the SiO<sub>2</sub> nanosize balls could be coated by metal films as well.  The theoretical studies here are focussed on the nonlinear optical properties and the metal coating is characterized by an effective dielectric function.  This approach should be revised when the coating has a width of a few monolayers,  a limit allowed by modern technologies. 

Thus the investigation of the electronic properties pertinent to the spherical geometry can provide an interesting link between the carbon macromolecules and other spherical structures. On the theoretical side of the problem, one meets a unique possibility to establish a bridge between the methods of microscopic many-body theory and the intrinsic spherical geometry of the atomic physics. To be consistent, these theoretical efforts should comprise the systematic comparison of the quantities found for the planar and the spherical geometries of the electronic motion. In a recent paper  we investigated the electronic gas on a sphere in a uniform magnetic field. The exact solution of the problem was found, two physical effects were predicted. First is the jumps in the magnetic susceptibility at half-integer numbers of flux quanta, piercing the sphere. Second is the localization of the electronic states near the poles of the sphere at high fields.

In this paper we study the correlations in the electron gas moving on the surface of the sphere. We obtain a close form of expressions for the indirect RKKY exchange, superconducting Cooper loop, density-density correlator. The effects peculiar to this geometry are elucidated, their meaning for subsequent theoretical investigations is discussed. It is particularly shown that the coherence of the electronic motion on the sphere results in the enhancement of the correlations between the points – antipodes on the sphere. This effect is lost with increasing the temperature $`T`$, when the temperature coherence length becomes less than the radius of the sphere.

We consider the electrons moving on a surface of the sphere of radius $`r_0`$. The Hamiltonian of the system is given by $`=\frac{^2}{2m_e}+U(r),`$ where $`m_e`$ is the (effective) mass of an electron and we have set $`\mathrm{}=c=1`$. The total number of electrons $`N`$ (with one projection of spin) is fixed and defines the value of the chemical potential $`\mu `$ and the areal density $`\nu =N/(4\pi r_0^2)`$. We assume that the potential $`U(r)`$ confines the electrons within the thin spherical layer $`\delta rr_0`$, i.e. $`U(r)=0`$ at $`r_0<r<r_0+\delta r`$ and $`U(r)\mathrm{}`$ otherwise. The radial component $`R(r)`$ of the wave function is a solution of the Shrödinger equation with the quantum well potential. We adopt that the chemical potential $`\mu `$ lies below the first excited level of $`R(r)`$, which means $`\delta r\nu ^{1/2}`$. It possible then to ignore the radial component and put $`r=r_0`$ in the remaining angular part of the Hamiltonian $`_\mathrm{\Omega }`$. The eigenfunctions to the Shrödinger equation $`_\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Psi }=E\mathrm{\Psi }`$ are the spherical harmonics $`Y_{lm}`$ and the spectrum is that of a free rotator model :

$$\mathrm{\Psi }(\theta ,\varphi )=r_0^1Y_{lm}(\theta ,\varphi ),E_l=(2m_er_0^2)^1l(l+1).$$
(1)   
According to (1) $`\mathrm{\Psi }(\theta ,\varphi )`$ is normalized as $`r_0^2|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2\mathrm{sin}\theta d\theta d\varphi =1`$, it facilitates the comparison of our results with the case of planar geometry.

For the two points $`𝐫(\theta ,0)`$ and $`𝐫^{}(\theta ^{},\varphi )`$ we define the distance $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ on the sphere as $`\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega }=\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{cos}\theta ^{}+\mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{sin}\theta ^{}\mathrm{cos}\varphi `$. One can find  an exact representation of the electron Green’s function through the Legendre function 

$$G(\mathrm{\Omega },i\omega _n)=\frac{m_e}{2\mathrm{cos}\pi a}P_{1/2+a}(\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega }),$$
(2)   
where $`a=\sqrt{2m_er_0^2(\mu +i\omega _n)+1/4}`$ and Matsubara frequency $`\omega _n=\pi T(2n+1)`$.

In the limit $`a1`$ and for $`a\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }1`$ one has  in the main order of $`a^1`$ :

$$G(\mathrm{\Omega },\omega )\frac{m_e}{\sqrt{2\pi a\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\frac{\mathrm{cos}(a\pi a\mathrm{\Omega }\pi /4)}{\mathrm{cos}\pi a},$$
(3)   
At the same time, if $`a1`$ and $`a(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })1`$ we get

$$G(\mathrm{\Omega }\pi ,\omega )\frac{m_e}{2\mathrm{cos}\pi a}J_0\left(a(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })\right),$$
(4)   
with the Bessel function $`J_0(x)`$. When $`\mathrm{\Omega }0`$, the Green’s function (2) diverges logarithmically, as it should.

It is convenient to introduce here the concept of the angular Fermi momentum $`L=\sqrt{2m_er_0^2\mu +1/4}k_Fr_0`$. For simplicity of subsequent calculations we consider the case of integer $`L`$, so that at low temperatures the level $`l=L1`$ is completely filled and $`l=L`$ is empty. It is worth noting that the number of electrons $`N=L^2`$ and the energy level spacing at the Fermi level $`\mathrm{\Delta }E4\pi \nu /(m_eL)2\mu /L`$. For densities $`\nu 10^{14}`$cm<sup>-2</sup> and $`r_0=100`$Åwe have $`L30`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }E10`$meV.

The oscillating factors $`\mathrm{exp}\pm i(a\pi a\mathrm{\Omega }\pi /4)`$ in (3) correspond to coherence of two waves. One propagates along the shortest way between two points and another wave goes along the longest way, turning around the sphere. One can show that this coherence is destroyed by the finite quasiparticle lifetime  or by the temperature. The latter reason takes place at $`T\mathrm{\Delta }E`$, in which case the Green’s function acquires the form ($`\omega _n>0`$) :

$$G(\mathrm{\Omega },\pm i\omega _n)\frac{m_e}{\sqrt{2\pi L\mathrm{\Omega }}}e^{\pm i(L\mathrm{\Omega }+\frac{\pi }{4})\omega _n\mathrm{\Omega }/\mathrm{\Delta }E}$$
(5)   
This equation, after natural substitution $`L\mathrm{\Omega }k_Fr`$, corresponds to the usual expression for the planar geometry.

Let us now discuss the magnetic correlation function on the sphere. This quantity defines the indirect RKKY exchange interaction between the localized moments and thus is related to the transverse NMR relaxation rate. It is also reponsible for the magnetic instability in the electronic system (spin-density wave state). The range function of the RKKY exchange interaction is given by :

$$\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })=T\underset{n}{}G^2(\mathrm{\Omega },i\omega _n).$$
(6)   
We discuss first the case $`T0`$ and use the limiting relation $`T_n_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\omega /(2\pi )`$. Using (2) we write

$$\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })=\frac{m_er_0^2}{8\pi i}_C𝑑a\frac{a}{\mathrm{cos}^2\pi a}\left[P_{a1/2}(\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega })\right]^2$$
(7)   
where the contour $`C`$ in the complex plane starts at $`e^{i\pi /4}\mathrm{}`$, passes through the point $`L`$ on the real axis and goes to $`e^{i\pi /4}\mathrm{}`$. We can shift the integration contour to the imaginary axis of $`a`$, where the integral is zero due to the oddness of the integrand in (7). Upon this shift we intersect the double poles at half-integer real $`a`$. Therefore the above integral reduces to the finite sum of residues and is equal to

$$\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })=\frac{m_e}{4\pi ^2r_0^2}\frac{d}{da}\underset{l=0}{\overset{L1}{}}\left(a+1/2\right)\left[P_a(\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega })\right]^2|_{a=l}.$$
(8)   
This expression was first obtained by Larsen  in a different way. Being formally exact, the expression (8) is not particularly useful at $`L1`$. In the case of large $`L`$ and at $`\mathrm{\Omega }\pi `$ it was suggested in  to approximate the sum (8) by an integral, thus obtaining

$$\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })L\left[P_L(\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega })\right]^2$$
(9)   
This estimate is however unsatisfactory at $`\mathrm{\Omega }1`$, since at large $`\nu `$ one has $`P_\nu (\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega })\nu ^{1/2}\mathrm{cos}(\nu \mathrm{\Omega }\pi /4)`$. Then the leading terms in the sum (8) acquire the form $`_l\mathrm{cos}2l\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and the consideration of the next-order terms is needed.

To find $`\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })`$ in the closed form at $`L1`$, we return back to (6) and use the asymptotic expressions (3), (4) for the Green’s function. Next we rescale $`\omega 2\mu \omega /L`$ (it corresponds to measuring the energy in units of spacing $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$) and neglect the terms $`1/L`$ in the expansion $`a=\sqrt{L^2+2iL\omega }L+i\omega +\omega ^2/2L`$. After that the integration over $`\omega `$ in (7) is easily done and we come to the improved estimate for (8) in the form :

$`\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^2}}LJ_0^2[L(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })],(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })1/L`$ (10)   
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^3\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\left[1+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }\pi }{\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })\right],\mathrm{\Omega }1,`$ (11)   
with the Bessel function $`J_0(x)`$. One can verify that the Eqs. (10) and (11) match smoothly at $`(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })1/L`$. It is convenient to rewrite (11) further as $`\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })=\chi ^{(1)}(\mathrm{\Omega })+\chi ^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ where

$`\chi ^{(1)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })}{\mathrm{sin}^2\mathrm{\Omega }}}\mathrm{\Theta }\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{2}}\mathrm{\Omega }\right],`$ (12)   
$`\chi ^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^3\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\left[1+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })}{\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\left[\mathrm{\Omega }\pi \mathrm{\Theta }\left[\mathrm{\Omega }{\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{2}}\right]\right]\right],`$ (13)   
and the step function $`\mathrm{\Theta }(x)=1`$ at $`x>0`$. For the small angles $`1/L\mathrm{\Omega }1`$ the $`\chi ^{(1)}`$ term dominates and we recover the result of the planar geometry 

$$\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })\frac{m}{(2\pi r_0\mathrm{\Omega })^2}\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })\frac{m}{(2\pi r)^2}\mathrm{sin}(2k_Fr)$$
(14)   
Discussing the analogue of the $`q`$representation of (11), we note that the usual formula for the inhomogeneous static susceptibility $`\chi (𝐪)=𝑑𝐫e^{i\mathrm{𝐪𝐫}}\chi (𝐫)`$ is replaced by $`\chi _{lm}=r_0^2\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })Y_{lm}^{}(\mathrm{\Omega },\phi )\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }d\mathrm{\Omega }d\phi `$. In the absence of $`\phi `$ in $`\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })`$, we have  :

$$\chi _l=2\pi r_0^2_0^\pi 𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }P_l(\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega })\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })$$
(15)   
Recalling the property $`P_l(x)=(1)^lP_l(x)`$ and noting that $`\chi ^{(2)}(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })=\chi ^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$, we conclude that the term $`\chi ^{(1)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ contributes to all harmonics $`\chi _l`$, whereas the “coherent” part $`\chi ^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ contributes only to $`\chi _l`$ with even $`l`$. Below we show that $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ disappears at high enough temperatures, $`T\mathrm{\Delta }E`$, or in the presence of scattering.

Calculating the contribution of the term $`\chi ^{(1)}`$, we encounter the integral $`_0^{\pi /2}𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }P_l(\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })/\mathrm{sin}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ which is determined by small $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Thus one can use $`P_l(\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega })J_0[(l+1/2)\mathrm{\Omega }]`$ and extend the integration to the infinite upper limit.

Further, the first term in $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ yields the integral $`_0^\pi 𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }P_{2l}(\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega })=\mathrm{\Gamma }^2(l+1/2)/\mathrm{\Gamma }^2(l+1)(l+\frac{1}{2})^1`$. The second part of $`\chi ^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ proportional to $`\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })/\mathrm{sin}^2\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is also important at $`\mathrm{\Omega }1`$; we can approximate the corresponding integral by $`_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }J_0((l+\frac{1}{2})\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })`$.

Combining all the contributions, we have

$`\chi _l`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m}{2\pi }}\left[f_1\left({\displaystyle \frac{l}{2L}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi L}}f_2\left({\displaystyle \frac{l+1/2}{2L}}\right)\right],`$ (17)   
$`\chi _l`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m}{2\pi }}f_1\left({\displaystyle \frac{l}{2L}}\right)`$ (18)   
for even and odd $`l`$, respectively. Here the function

$`f_1(x)`$ $`=`$ $`\pi /2,x<1`$ (19)   
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{sin}^1(1/x),x>1`$ (20)   
corresponds to $`\chi ^{(1)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$. It defines a cusp in $`\chi _l`$ at $`l=2L2k_F`$ and thus resembles the usual planar expression.  The function

$`f_2(x)`$ $`=`$ $`x^1+(1x^2)^{1/2},x<1`$ (21)   
$`=`$ $`x^1,x>1`$ (22)   
stems from the part $`\chi ^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ and is present in the even harmonics $`\chi _l`$. This coherent term has a prefactor $`1/L`$ in (Electronic correlations on a metallic nanosphere.) and formally vanishes in the limit $`Lr_0\mathrm{}`$. However, $`f_2(x)`$ is singular at $`x=0`$ and at $`x=1`$, which points deserve more attention. At $`l2L`$ one estimates the contribution of $`\chi ^{(2)}L^{1/2}`$, i.e. much less than $`\chi ^{(1)}1`$. At $`l1`$ both contributions are comparable. Moreover, using (8) and relevant formulas in  one can find the exact identity for the uniform static susceptibility $`\chi _{l=0}=0`$. The vanishing value of $`\chi _{l=0}`$ is connected with our choice of the chemical potential lying between the discrete energy levels $`L1`$ and $`L`$, so that the excited electronic states are separated from the vacuum ones by the energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$. It resembles the situation with vanishing static susceptibility in superconductors.  Exploring further this analogy, it is interesting to observe that in the clean metal and at $`T0`$ the coherent term $`f_2`$ provides a maximum of $`\chi _l`$ at $`l=\sqrt{2}L`$. This point, similarly to the case of ferromagnetic superconductors , could be labeled as the momentum of helikoidal magnetic ordering.

Next, we discuss the superconducting correlation function, which reflects the tendency to superconducting pairing and defines on the mean-field level the superconducting temperature, $`T_c`$. The basic object here (found also in the localization theory) is the static Cooper loop, which could be written in $`r`$representation as

$$\mathrm{\Pi }(\mathrm{\Omega })=T\underset{n}{}G(\mathrm{\Omega },i\omega _n)G(\mathrm{\Omega },i\omega _n),$$
(23)   
Unlike the above case of the magnetic loop $`\chi (\mathrm{\Omega })`$, we could not arrive at some closed type of expression for $`\mathrm{\Pi }(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ with the use of the exact formula (2) for $`G(\mathrm{\Omega },\omega )`$. However, one can find an approximate form of $`\mathrm{\Pi }(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ exploring the large $`L`$ asymptote (3) for the Green’s function. A calculation similar to the above one gives the result (cf. (11))

$`\mathrm{\Pi }(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^2}}LJ_0^2[L(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })],(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })1/L`$ (25)   
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^3\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\pi \mathrm{\Omega }}{\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })\right],\mathrm{\Omega }1`$ (26)   
Again, Eqs. (Electronic correlations on a metallic nanosphere.a) and (Electronic correlations on a metallic nanosphere.b) smoothly match at $`(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })1/L`$. As above, we decompose $`\mathrm{\Pi }(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ into the sum $`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(1)}(\mathrm{\Omega })+\mathrm{\Pi }^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ with

$`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(1)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^2\mathrm{sin}^2\mathrm{\Omega }}}\mathrm{\Theta }\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{2}}\mathrm{\Omega }\right],`$ (27)   
$`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^3\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\pi \mathrm{\Theta }\left[\mathrm{\Omega }\pi /2\right]\mathrm{\Omega }}{\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })\right]`$ (28)   
The property $`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(2)}(\pi \mathrm{\Omega })=\mathrm{\Pi }^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ should be noted here. At $`1/L\mathrm{\Omega }1`$ the term $`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(1)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ is a principal one and the planar result  is restored

$$\mathrm{\Pi }(\mathrm{\Omega })\frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^2\mathrm{sin}^2\mathrm{\Omega }}\frac{m}{(2\pi r)^2}$$
(29)   
Finding the momentum representation of (Electronic correlations on a metallic nanosphere.b) according to (15), we encounter the logarithmic singularity at $`\mathrm{\Omega }0`$ and all $`l`$, which originates from the term $`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(1)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$. This divergence should be cutoff at the lowest allowable angles $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0a_0/r_0`$ with the interatomic spacing $`a_0`$.

At the same time, the part $`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ provides a convergent integral which contributes only to odd harmonics, in view of the abovementioned property. Further, it saturates at small $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, where $`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ coincides with $`\chi ^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$.

The whole result is then given by :

$`\mathrm{\Pi }_l`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m}{2\pi }}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{r_0}{a_0l}}\right),`$ (31)   
$`\mathrm{\Pi }_l`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m}{2\pi }}\left[\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{r_0}{a_0l}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi L}}f_2\left({\displaystyle \frac{l+1/2}{2L}}\right)\right],`$ (32)   
for even and odd $`l`$, respectively. Comparing it to (Electronic correlations on a metallic nanosphere.) we see that the same coherent term $`f_2(l/2L)`$ contributes the harmonics of different parity. A simple analysis shows that the presence of $`f_2(l/2L)`$ in (Electronic correlations on a metallic nanosphere.) does not modify an overall character of $`\mathrm{\Pi }_l`$ for all $`L1`$, and it is the logarithmic term that defines the tendency to the superconducting pairing at $`l0`$. It should be also stressed that the static Cooper loop has a singularity at an analog of $`2k_F`$, the feature absent in the planar geometry.

Let us discuss now the ‘density-density’ correlation function of the electronic gas on the sphere. This function describes the variation in the electronic density, caused by impurities, and can be written as 

$`𝒞(𝐫,𝐫^{})`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\nu }}(n(𝐫)\nu )(n(𝐫^{})\nu )\delta (𝐫𝐫^{})`$ (33)   
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\nu }}\left(T{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}G(𝐫,𝐫^{},i\omega _n)e^{i\omega _n\tau }\right)^2,`$ (34)   
where $`\tau +0`$ in the last line.

In the planar geometry we have at $`T=0`$ :

$`𝒞(𝐫,𝐫^{})`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi r^2}}J_1^2(k_Fr){\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sin}(2k_Fr)1}{\pi ^2k_Fr^3}},`$ (35)   
with $`r=|𝐫𝐫^{}|`$. We see that at large $`r`$ the Friedel oscillations with a period $`(2k_F)^1`$ take place.

For the spherical geometry and large $`L`$ we use (3), (34), to obtain in the limit $`T=0`$ :

$`𝒞(𝐫,𝐫^{})`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi ^2r_0^2L}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })1}{\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{sin}^2(\mathrm{\Omega }/2)}}`$ (36)   
This expression holds at $`L\mathrm{sin}\mathrm{\Omega }1`$ and has the obvious correspondence with (35) for $`\mathrm{\Omega }1`$. At large $`\mathrm{\Omega }\pi `$ the amplitude of the correlations grows, in accordance with the previous formulas (11), (Electronic correlations on a metallic nanosphere.).

Now let us discuss the case of finite temperatures. First, we note that for the considered case of the fixed number of particles, the position of the chemical potential depends on $`T`$ and is determined from the equation $`N=_l(2l+1)n_F(E_l)`$, with Fermi function $`n_F(x)`$. Some analysis shows, however, that the value of $`\mu `$ at finite $`T`$ does not deviate much from its zero-temperature value $`\mu _0`$.  Specifically, this deviation satisfies the inequalities $`|\mu \mu _0|/T1`$ and $`|\mu \mu _0|<\mathrm{\Delta }E/2`$ and is ignored below. 

The above correlation functions are not essentially modified at $`T\mathrm{\Delta }E`$. The changes occur when $`T\mathrm{\Delta }E`$, in which case we use Eq. (5) and perform the Matsubara sums in (6), (23), (34). As a result, we arrive at the following expressions :

$`\chi (\mathrm{\Omega },T)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })}{(2\pi r_0\mathrm{\Omega })^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2\pi T\mathrm{\Omega }}{\mathrm{\Delta }E}}\right)`$ (37)   
$`\mathrm{\Pi }(\mathrm{\Omega },T)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mr_0^2}{4\pi ^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2\pi T\mathrm{\Omega }}{\mathrm{\Delta }E}}\right)`$ (38)   
$`𝒞(𝐫,𝐫^{},T)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sin}(2L\mathrm{\Omega })1}{\pi ^2r_0^2L\mathrm{\Omega }^3}}^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{\pi T\mathrm{\Omega }}{\mathrm{\Delta }E}}\right)`$ (39)   
with $`(x)=x/\mathrm{sinh}x`$. Therefore the temperatures $`T\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ lead to the exponential decrease of the correlations at $`\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Delta }E/(\pi T)=\xi _T/r_0`$, with the temperature coherence length $`\xi _T=2\mu /(\pi k_FT)`$. One should also note the disappearance of the coherent terms $`\chi ^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ and $`\mathrm{\Pi }^{(2)}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ present at $`\mathrm{\Omega }1`$ in magnetic and superconducting correlators, (12) and (27), respectively.

Summarizing, we find a closed form of the correlation functions for the electron gas on the sphere. The effects peculiar to this geometry are analyzed, the role of finite temperatures for our results is elucidated.

I thank S.L. Ginzburg, S.V. Maleyev, A.G. Yashenkin, A.V. Lazuta for stimulating discussions. The partial financial support from the Russian State Program for Statistical Physics (Grant VIII-2), grant FTNS 99-1134 and grant INTAS 97-1342 is gratefully acknowledged.