Coherence scale of the two-dimensional Kondo Lattice model

A doped hole in the two-dimensional half-filled Kondo lattice model with exchange J and hopping t has momentum (pi,pi) irrespective of the coupling J/t. The quasiparticle residue of the doped hole, Z_{(\pi, \pi)}, tracks the Kondo scale, T_K, of the corresponding single impurity model. Those results stem from high precision quantum Monte Carlo simulations on lattices up to 12 X 12. Accounting for small dopings away from half-filling within a rigid band approximation, this result implies that the effective mass of the charge carriers at the Fermi level tracks 1/T_K or equivalently that the coherence temperature T_{coh} \propto T_K. This results is consistent with the large-N saddle point of the SU(N) symmetric Kondo lattice model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Fermi arcs and pseudogap emerging from dimensional crossover at the Fermi surface in La2−x_{2-x}Srx_xCuO4_4

The doping mechanism and realistic Fermi surface (FS) evolution of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (LSCO) are modelled within an extensive ab-initio framework including advanced band-unfolding techniques. We show that ordinary Kohn-Sham DFT+U can reproduce the observed metal-insulator transition, when not restricted to the paramagnetic solution space. Arcs are self-doped by orbital charge transfer within the Cu-O planes, while the introduced Sr charge is strongly localized. Arc protection and the inadequacy of the rigid-band picture are consequences of a rapid change in orbital symmetry at the Fermi energy: the material undergoes a dimensional crossover along the Fermi surface, between the nodal (2D) and antinodal (3D) regions. In LSCO, this crossover accounts for FS arcs, the antinodal pseudogap, and insulating behavior in $c$-axis conductivity, all ubiquitous phenomena in high-T$_c$ cuprates. Ligand Coulomb integrals involving out-of-plane sites are principally responsible for the most striking effects observed by ARPES in LSCO.Comment: Final slightly expanded version, as accepted in EP

Optimizing the speed of a Josephson junction

We review the application of dynamical mean-field theory to Josephson junctions and study how to maximize the characteristic voltage IcRn which determines the width of a rapid single flux quantum pulse, and thereby the operating speed in digital electronics. We study a wide class of junctions ranging from SNS, SCmS (where Cm stands for correlated metal), SINIS (where the insulating layer is formed from a screened dipole layer), and SNSNS structures. Our review is focused on a survey of the physical results; the formalism has been developed elsewhere.Comment: (36 pages, 15 figures, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys. B

Noise control by sonic crystal barriers made of recycled materials

A systematic study of noise barriers based on sonic crystals made of cylinders that use recycled materials like absorbing component is here reported. The barriers consist of only three rows of perforated metal shells filled with rubber crumb. Measurements of reflectance and transmittance by these barriers are reported. Their attenuation properties result from a combination of sound absorption by the rubber crumb and reflection by the periodic distribution of scatterers. It is concluded that porous cylinders can be used as building blocks whose physical parameters can be optimized in order to design efficient barriers adapted to different noisy environments

From the Fermi Liquid Towards the Wigner Solid in Two Dimensions

The quantum-classical crossover from the Fermi liquid towards the Wigner solid is numerically revisited, considering small square lattice models where electrons interact via a Coulomb U/r potential. We review a series of exact numerical results obtained in the presence of weak site disorder for fully polarized electrons (spinless fermions) and when the spin degrees of freedom are included. A novel intermediate regime between the Fermi system of weakly interacting localized particles and the correlated Wigner solid is obtained. A detailed analysis of the non disordered case shows that the intermediate ground state is a solid entangled with an excited liquid. For electrons in two dimensions, this raises the question of the existence of an unnoticed intermediate liquid-solid phase. Using the Coulomb energy to kinetic energy ratio r_s ~ U ~ n_s^{-1/2}, we discuss certain analogies between the numerical results obtained as a function of U for a few particles and the low temperature behaviors obtained as a function of the carrier density n_s in two dimensional electron gases. Notably, the new ``exotic state of matter'' numerically observed at low energies in small clusters occurs at the same intermediate ratios r_s than the unexpected low temperature metallic behavior characterizing dilute electron gases. The finite size effects in the limit of strong disorder are eventually studied in the last section, providing two numerical evidences that the weak coupling Fermi limit is delimited by a second order quantum phase transition when one increases U.Comment: 45 pages, review article to appear in ``Exotic states in Quantum Nanostructures'' ed. S. Sarkar, Kluwer, Dordrech