Exact Diagonalization of SU(N) Fermi-Hubbard Models

We show how to perform exact diagonalizations of SU(N) Fermi-Hubbard models on L-site clusters separately in each irreducible representation (irrep) of SU(N). Using the representation theory of the unitary group U(L), we demonstrate that a convenient orthonormal basis, on which matrix elements of the Hamiltonian are very simple, is given by the set of semistandard Young tableaux (or, equivalently, the Gelfand-Tsetlin patterns) corresponding to the targeted irrep. As an application of this color factorization, we study the robustness of some SU(N) phases predicted in the Heisenberg limit upon decreasing the on-site interaction U on various lattices of size L≤12 and for 2≤N≤6. In particular, we show that a long-range color ordered phase emerges for intermediate U for N=4 at filling 1/4 on the triangular lattice.