Phase diagram, energy scales and nonlocal correlations in the Anderson lattice model

We study the Anderson lattice model with one f-orbital per lattice site as the simplest model which describes generic features of heavy fermion materials. The resistivity and magnetic susceptibility results obtained within dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) for a nearly half-filled conduction band show the existence of a single energy scale $T^*$ which is similar to the single ion Kondo temperature $T_K^o$. To determine the importance of inter-site correlations, we have also solved the model within cellular DMFT (CDMFT) with two sites in a unit cell. The antiferromagnetic region on the phase diagram is much narrower than in the single-site solution, having a smaller critical hybridization $V_c$ and N\'eel temperature $T_N$. At temperatures above $T_N$ the nonlocal correlations are small, and the DMFT paramagnetic solution is in this case practically exact, which justifies the ab initio LDA+DMFT approach in theoretical studies of heavy fermions. Strong inter-site correlations in the CDMFT solution for $T<T_N$, however, indicate that they have to be properly treated in order to unravel the physical properties near the quantum critical point.Comment: 10 page

Dynamical Mean-Field Theory for Molecular Electronics: Electronic Structure and Transport Properties

We present an approach for calculating the electronic structure and transport properties of nanoscopic conductors that takes into account the dynamical correlations of strongly interacting d- or f-electrons by combining density functional theory calculations with the dynamical mean-field theory. While the density functional calculation yields a static mean-field description of the weakly interacting electrons, the dynamical mean-field theory explicitly takes into account the dynamical correlations of the strongly interacting d- or f-electrons of transition metal atoms. As an example we calculate the electronic structure and conductance of Ni nanocontacts between Cu electrodes. We find that the dynamical correlations of the Ni 3d-electrons give rise to quasi-particle resonances at the Fermi-level in the spectral density. The quasi-particle resonances in turn lead to Fano lineshapes in the conductance characteristics of the nanocontacts similar to those measured in recent experiments of magnetic nanocontacts.Comment: replaced with revised version; 11 pages; 9 figure

Calorimetric Evidence of Multiband Superconductivity in Ba(Fe0.925Co0.075)2As2

We report on the determination of the electronic heat capacity of a slightly overdoped (x = 0.075) Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 single crystal with a Tc of 21.4 K. Our analysis of the temperature dependence of the superconducting-state specific heat provides strong evidence for a two-band s-wave order parameter with gap amplitudes 2D1(0)/kBTc=1.9 and 2D2(0)/kBTc=4.4. Our result is consistent with the recently predicted s+- order parameter [I. I. Mazin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 057003 (2008)].Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure