654 research outputs found
Thermoelectric Behaviour Near Magnetic Quantum Critical Point
We use the coupled 2d-spin-3d-fermion model proposed by Rosch {\sl et. al.}
(Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 79}, 159 (1997)) to study the thermoelectric behaviour
of a heavy fermion compound when it is close to an antiferromagnetic quantum
critical point. When the low energy spin fluctuations are quasi two
dimensional, as has been observed in and , with a typical 2d ordering wavevector and 3d Fermi
surface, the ``hot'' regions on the Fermi surface have a finite area. Due to
enhanced scattering with the nearly critical spin fluctuations, the electrons
in the hot region are strongly renormalized. We argue that there is an
intermediate energy scale where the qualitative aspects of the renormalized hot
electrons are captured by a weak-coupling perturbative calculation. Our
examination of the electron self energy shows that the entropy carried by the
hot electrons is larger than usual. This accounts for the anomalous logarithmic
temperature dependence of specific heat observed in these materials. We show
that the same mechanism produces logarithmic temperature dependence in
thermopower. This has been observed in . We
expect to see the same behaviour from future experiments on .Comment: RevTex, two-column, 7 pages, 2 figure
Scaling approach to itinerant quantum critical points
Based on phase space arguments, we develop a simple approach to metallic
quantum critical points, designed to study the problem without integrating the
fermions out of the partition function. The method is applied to the
spin-fermion model of a T=0 ferromagnetic transition. Stability criteria for
the conduction and the spin fluids are derived by scaling at the tree level. We
conclude that anomalous exponents may be generated for the fermion self-energy
and the spin-spin correlation functions below , in spite of the spin fluid
being above its upper critical dimension.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures; discussion of the phase space restriction
modified and, for illustrative purposes, restricted to the tree-level
analysis of the ferromagnetic transitio
Some remarks about pseudo gap behavior of nearly antiferromagnetic metals
In the antiferromagnetically ordered phase of a metal, gaps open on parts of
the Fermi surface if the Fermi volume is sufficiently large. We discuss simple
qualitative and heuristic arguments under what conditions precursor effects,
i.e. pseudo gaps, are expected in the paramagnetic phase of a metal close to an
antiferromagnetic quantum phase transition. At least for weak interactions, we
do not expect the formation of pseudo gaps in a three dimensional material.
According to our arguments, the upper critical dimension d_c for the formation
of pseudo gaps is d_c=2. However, at the present stage we cannot rule out a
higher upper critical dimension, 2 < d_c <= 3. We also discuss briefly the role
of statistical interactions in pseudo gap phases.Comment: 6 pages, accepted in PRB, relevant references added, several small
change
Locally critical quantum phase transitions in strongly correlated metals
When a metal undergoes a continuous quantum phase transition, non-Fermi
liquid behaviour arises near the critical point. It is standard to assume that
all low-energy degrees of freedom induced by quantum criticality are spatially
extended, corresponding to long-wavelength fluctuations of the order parameter.
However, this picture has been contradicted by recent experiments on a
prototype system: heavy fermion metals at a zero-temperature magnetic
transition. In particular, neutron scattering from CeCuAu has
revealed anomalous dynamics at atomic length scales, leading to much debate as
to the fate of the local moments in the quantum-critical regime. Here we report
our theoretical finding of a locally critical quantum phase transition in a
model of heavy fermions. The dynamics at the critical point are in agreement
with experiment. We also argue that local criticality is a phenomenon of
general relevance to strongly correlated metals, including doped Mott
insulators.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures; extended version, to appear in Natur
Calculating the energy spectra of magnetic molecules: application of real- and spin-space symmetries
The determination of the energy spectra of small spin systems as for instance
given by magnetic molecules is a demanding numerical problem. In this work we
review numerical approaches to diagonalize the Heisenberg Hamiltonian that
employ symmetries; in particular we focus on the spin-rotational symmetry SU(2)
in combination with point-group symmetries. With these methods one is able to
block-diagonalize the Hamiltonian and thus to treat spin systems of
unprecedented size. In addition it provides a spectroscopic labeling by
irreducible representations that is helpful when interpreting transitions
induced by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
(NMR) or Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS). It is our aim to provide the
reader with detailed knowledge on how to set up such a diagonalization scheme.Comment: 29 pages, many figure
Strongly coupled quantum criticality with a Fermi surface in two dimensions: fractionalization of spin and charge collective modes
We describe two dimensional models with a metallic Fermi surface which
display quantum phase transitions controlled by strongly interacting critical
field theories below their upper critical dimension. The primary examples
involve transitions with a topological order parameter associated with
dislocations in collinear spin density wave ("stripe") correlations: the
gapping of the order parameter fluctuations leads to a fractionalization of
spin and charge collective modes, and this transition has been proposed as a
candidate for the cuprates near optimal doping. The coupling between the order
parameter and long-wavelength volume and shape deformations of the Fermi
surface is analyzed by the renormalization group, and a runaway flow to a
non-perturbative regime is found in most cases. A phenomenological scaling
analysis of simple observable properties of possible second order quantum
critical points is presented, with results quite similar to those near quantum
spin glass transitions and to phenomenological forms proposed by Schroeder et
al. (cond-mat/0011002).Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures; (v2) additional clarifying remark
Quantum Criticality in Heavy Fermion Metals
Quantum criticality describes the collective fluctuations of matter
undergoing a second-order phase transition at zero temperature. Heavy fermion
metals have in recent years emerged as prototypical systems to study quantum
critical points. There have been considerable efforts, both experimental and
theoretical, which use these magnetic systems to address problems that are
central to the broad understanding of strongly correlated quantum matter. Here,
we summarize some of the basic issues, including i) the extent to which the
quantum criticality in heavy fermion metals goes beyond the standard theory of
order-parameter fluctuations, ii) the nature of the Kondo effect in the quantum
critical regime, iii) the non-Fermi liquid phenomena that accompany quantum
criticality, and iv) the interplay between quantum criticality and
unconventional superconductivity.Comment: (v2) 39 pages, 8 figures; shortened per the editorial mandate; to
appear in Nature Physics. (v1) 43 pages, 8 figures; Non-technical review
article, intended for general readers; the discussion part contains more
specialized topic
Search for the Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay with the HERA-B Detector
We report on a search for the flavor-changing neutral current decay using events recorded with a dimuon trigger in
interactions of 920 GeV protons with nuclei by the HERA-B experiment. We find
no evidence for such decays and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on the
branching fraction .Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures (of which 1 double), paper to be submitted to
Physics Letters
Measurement of the J/Psi Production Cross Section in 920 GeV/c Fixed-Target Proton-Nucleus Interactions
The mid-rapidity (dsigma_(pN)/dy at y=0) and total sigma_(pN) production
cross sections of J/Psi mesons are measured in proton-nucleus interactions.
Data collected by the HERA-B experiment in interactions of 920 GeV/c protons
with carbon, titanium and tungsten targets are used for this analysis. The
J/Psi mesons are reconstructed by their decay into lepton pairs. The total
production cross section obtained is sigma_(pN)(J/Psi) = 663 +- 74 +- 46
nb/nucleon. In addition, our result is compared with previous measurements
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