Flow to strong coupling in the two-dimensional Hubbard model

We extend the analysis of the renormalization group flow in the two-dimensional Hubbard model close to half-filling using the recently developed temperature flow formalism. We investigate the interplay of d-density wave and Fermi surface deformation tendencies with those towards d-wave pairing and antiferromagnetism. For a ratio of next nearest to nearest neighbor hoppings, t'/t=-0.25, and band fillings where the Fermi surface is inside the Umklapp surface, only the d-pairing susceptibility diverges at low temperatures. When the Fermi surface intersects the Umklapp surface close to the saddle points, d-wave pairing, d-density wave, antiferromagnetic and, to a weaker extent, d-wave Fermi surface deformation susceptibilities grow together when the interactions flow to strong coupling. We interpret these findings as indications for a non-trivial strongly coupled phase with short-ranged superconducting and antiferromagnetic correlations, in close analogy with the spin liquid ground state in the well-understood two-leg Hubbard ladder.Comment: 8 pages, to appear in European Physical Journal

Chiral d-wave superconductivity in doped graphene

A highly unconventional superconducting state with a spin-singlet $d_{x^2-y^2}\pm id_{xy}$-wave, or chiral d-wave, symmetry has recently been proposed to emerge from electron-electron interactions in doped graphene. Especially graphene doped to the van Hove singularity at 1/4 doping, where the density of states diverges, has been argued to likely be a chiral d-wave superconductor. In this review we summarize the currently mounting theoretical evidence for the existence of a chiral d-wave superconducting state in graphene, obtained with methods ranging from mean-field studies of effective Hamiltonians to angle-resolved renormalization group calculations. We further discuss multiple distinctive properties of the chiral d-wave superconducting state in graphene, as well as its stability in the presence of disorder. We also review means of enhancing the chiral d-wave state using proximity-induced superconductivity. The appearance of chiral d-wave superconductivity is intimately linked to the hexagonal crystal lattice and we also offer a brief overview of other materials which have also been proposed to be chiral d-wave superconductors.Comment: 51 pages, 8 figures. Invited topical review in J. Phys.:Condens. Matte

Orbital Dependence of Quasiparticle Lifetimes in Sr2RuO4

Using a phenomenological Hamiltonian, we investigate the quasiparticle lifetimes and dispersions in the three low energy bands, gamma, beta, and alpha of Sr2RuO4. Couplings in the Hamiltonian are fixed so as to produce the mass renormalization as measured in magneto-oscillation experiments. We thus find reasonable agreement in all bands between our computed lifetimes and those measured in ARPES experiments by Kidd et al. [1] and Ingle et al. [2]. In comparing computed to measured quasiparticle dispersions, we however find good agreement in the alpha-band alone.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Instabilities of interacting electrons on the honeycomb bilayer

We investigate the instabilities of interacting electrons on the honeycomb bilayer by means of the functional renormalization group for a range of interactions up to the third-nearest neighbor. Besides a novel instability toward a gapless charge-density wave we find that using interaction parameters as determined by ab-initio calculations for graphene and graphite puts the system close to the boundary between antiferromagnetic and quantum spin Hall instabilities. Importantly, the energy scales for these instabilities are large such that imperfections and deviations from the basic model are expected to play a major role in real bilayer graphene, where interaction effects seem to be seen only at smaller scales. We therefore analyze how reducing the critical scale and small doping of the layers affect the instabilities.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Instabilities at [110] Surfaces of d_{x^2-y^2} Superconductors

We compare different scenarios for the low temperature splitting of the zero-energy peak in the local density of states at (110) surfaces of d_{x^2-y^2}-wave superconductors, observed by Covington et al. (Phys.Rev.Lett.79 (1997), 277). Using a tight binding model in the Bogolyubov-de Gennes treatment we find a surface phase transition towards a time-reversal symmetry breaking surface state carrying spontaneous currents and an s+id-wave state. Alternatively, we show that electron correlation leads to a surface phase transition towards a magnetic state corresponding to a local spin density wave state.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Instabilities on graphene's honeycomb lattice with electron-phonon interactions

We study the impact of electron-phonon interactions on the many-body instabilities of electrons on the honeycomb lattice and their interplay with repulsive local and non-local Coulomb interactions at charge neutrality. To that end, we consider in-plane optical phonon modes with wavevectors close to the $\Gamma$ point as well as to the $K, -K$ points and calculate the effective phonon-mediated electron-electron interaction by integrating out the phonon modes. Ordering tendencies are studied by means of a momentum-resolved functional renormalization group approach allowing for an unbiased investigation of the appearing instabilities. In the case of an exclusive and supercritical phonon-mediated interaction, we find a Kekul\'e and a nematic bond ordering tendency being favored over the $s$-wave superconducting state. The competition between the different phonon-induced orderings clearly shows a repulsive interaction between phonons at small and large wavevector transfers. We further discuss the influence of phonon-mediated interactions on electronically-driven instabilities induced by onsite, nearest neighbor and next-to-nearest neighbor density-density interactions. We find an extension of the parameter regime of the spin density wave order going along with an increase of the critical scales where ordering occurs, and a suppression of competing orders.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Landau-Fermi liquid analysis of the 2D t-t' Hubbard model

We calculate the Landau interaction function f(k,k') for the two-dimensional t-t' Hubbard model on the square lattice using second and higher order perturbation theory. Within the Landau-Fermi liquid framework we discuss the behavior of spin and charge susceptibilities as function of the onsite interaction and band filling. In particular we analyze the role of elastic umklapp processes as driving force for the anisotropic reduction of the compressibility on parts of the Fermi surface.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figure

Correlated spinless fermions on the honeycomb lattice revisited

We investigate the quantum many-body instabilities of the extended Hubbard model for spinless fermions on the honeycomb lattice with repulsive nearest-neighbor and 2nd nearest-neighbor density-density interactions. Recent exact diagonalization and infinite density matrix renormalization group results suggest that a putative topological Mott insulator phase driven by the 2nd nearest-neighbor repulsion is suppressed, while other numerically exact approaches support the topological Mott insulator scenario. In the present work, we employ the functional renormalization group (fRG) for correlated fermionic systems. Our fRG results hint at a strong suppression of the scattering processes stabilizing the topological Mott insulator. From analyzing the effects of fermionic fluctuations, we obtain a phase diagram which is the result of the competition of various charge ordering instabilities.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Staggered flux vortices and the superconducting transition in the layered cuprates

We propose an effective model for the superconducting transition in the high-T_c cuprates motivated by the SU(2) gauge theory approach. In addition to variations of the superconducting phase we allow for local admixture of staggered flux order. This leads to an unbinding transition of vortices with staggered flux core that are energetically preferable to conventional vortices. Based on parameter estimates for the two-dimensional t-J model we argue that the staggered flux vortices provide a way to understand a phase with a moderate density of mobile vortices over a large temperature range above T_c that yet exhibits otherwise normal transport properties. This picture is consistent with the large Nernst signal observed in this region.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure