Optical properties of graphene: the Fermi liquid approach

Optical properties of two-dimensional massless Dirac fermions are considered by the formalism of pseudospin precession equations which provides an easy and natural semiphenomenological way to include correlation effects. It is shown that the latter are negligible, with the only assumption that the system under consideration is normal Fermi liquid. This result probably explains recent experimental data on the universal optical conductivity of graphene (Nair R. R. et al, Science 320 (2008) 1308).Comment: 3 page

Graphene: carbon in two dimensions

Carbon is one of the most intriguing elements in the Periodic Table. It forms many allotropes, some being known from ancient times (diamond and graphite) and some discovered ten to twenty years ago (fullerenes, nanotubes). Quite interestingly, the two-dimensional form (graphene) has been obtained only very recently, and immediately attracted great deal of attention. Electrons in graphene, obeying linear dispersion relation, behave like massless relativistic particles, which results in a number of very peculiar electronic properties observed in this first two-dimensional material: from an anomalous quantum Hall effect to the absence of localization. It also provides a bridge between condensed matter physics and quantum electrodynamics and opens new perspectives for carbon-based electronics.Comment: Review paper on graphene, a bit shortened in comparison with the published version (some figures are changed or omitted

Coulomb drag in graphene single layers separated by a thin spacer

Motivated by very recent studies of Coulomb drag in grahene-BN-graphene system we develop a theory of Coulomb drag for the Fermi liquid regime, for the case when the ratio of spacer thickness $d$ to the Fermi wavelength of electrons is arbitrary. The concentration ($n$) and thickness dependence of the drag resistivity is changed from $n^{-3}d^{-4}$ for the thick spacer to $n^{-1}|\ln{(nd^2)}|$ for the thin one.Comment: final version; more details on the solution of electrostatic problem and some references are adde

Electron self-trapping and fluctuation density-of-states tail at the critical point

We consider electron self-trapping due to its interaction with order-parameter fluuctuations at the second-order phase-transition or critical point (for example, at the Curie temperature in magnetic or ferroelectric semiconductors). Using Feynman path integral approach the autolocalization energy and the size of the self-trapped state (fluctuon) are estimated. It is shown that the fluctuon states are connected with the Lifshitz tail of the electron density-of-states, the parameters of this tail being determined by the critical exponents.Comment: 4 pages, revtex4, Phys. Rev. B, accepte

An dynamical-mean-field-theory investigation of specific heat and electronic structure of α\alpha and δ\delta-plutonium

We have carried out a comparative study of the electronic specific heat and electronic structure of $\alpha$ and $\delta$-plutonium using dynmical mean field theory (DMFT). We use the perturbative T-matrix and fluctuating exchange (T-matrix FLEX) as a quantum impurity solver. We considered two different physical pictures of plutonoium. In the first, $5{f^5}+$, the perturbative treatment of electronic correlations has been carried out around the non-magnetic (LDA) Hamiltonian, which results in an f occupation around a bit above $n_f = 5$. In the second, $5{f^6}-$, plutonium is viewed as being close to an $5{f^6}$ configuration, and perturbation theory is carried out around the (LDA+U) starting point bit below $n_f = 6$. In the latter case the electronic specific heat coefficient $\gamma$ attains a smaller value in $\gamma$-Pu than in $\alpha$-Pu, in contradiction to experiment, while in the former case our calculations reproduce the experimentally observed large increase of $\gamma$ in $\delta$-Pu as compared to the $\alpha$ phase. This enhancement of the electronic specific heat coefficient in $\delta$-Pu is due to strong electronic correlations present in this phase, which cause a substantial increase of the electronic effective mass, and high density of states at $E_F$. The densities of states of $\alpha$ and $\delta$-plutonium obtained starting from the open-shell configuration are also in good agreement with the experimental photoemission spectra.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Enhanced Screening in Chemically Functionalized Graphene

Resonant scatterers such as hydrogen adatoms can strongly enhance the low energy density of states in graphene. Here, we study the impact of these impurities on the electronic screening. We find a two-faced behavior: Kubo formula calculations reveal an increased dielectric function $\varepsilon$ upon creation of midgap states but no metallic divergence of the static $\varepsilon$ at small momentum transfer $q\to 0$. This bad metal behavior manifests also in the dynamic polarization function and can be directly measured by means of electron energy loss spectroscopy. A new length scale $l_c$ beyond which screening is suppressed emerges, which we identify with the Anderson localization length.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Friedel oscillations at the surfaces of rhombohedral NN-layer graphene

The low-energy physics of rhombohedral $N$-layer graphene mainly arises on the external layers, where most of the {\pi} electrons are located. Their Bloch band structure defines a two-band semimetal; the dispersion relation scales as $\pm q^{N}$ with the momentum norm $q$ in the vicinity of two nonequivalent valleys. In this paper, we address the problem of elastic scattering through a localized impurity located either on the surface of the material or within the bulk, and focus on the quantum interferences it induces on the two external layers. It is apprehended in the framework of a $T$-matrix approach, both numerically and analytically, regardless of the impurity magnitude, which enables the description of realistic scatters. In rhombohedral multilayer graphene, the impurity induces Friedel oscillations that always decay as $1/r$. As a result, monolayer graphene is the only material of the rhombohedral class that exhibits $1/r^{2}$-decaying Friedel oscillations. The interference patterns are subsequently analyzed in momentum space. This analysis enables a clear distinction between monolayer graphene and multilayer graphene. It also shows that the interference pattern reveals the whole Bloch band structure, and highlights the number of layers stacked in the material, as well as the ${\pi}$-quantized Berry phases that characterize the existence of nodal points in the semimetallic spectrum. Experimentally, these features may be probed from scanning tunneling microscopy, when imaging the local density of states at the surfaces of suspended rhombohedral $N$-layer graphene

Solvent Driven Formation of Bolaamphiphilic Vesicles

We show that a spontaneous bending of single layer bolaamphiphiles results from the frustration due to the competition between core-core and tail-solvent interactions. We find that spherical vesicles are stable under rather general assumptions on these interactions described within the Flory-Huggins theory. We consider also the deformation of the vesicles in an external magnetic field that has been recently experimentally observed.Comment: J. Phys. Chem. B, accepte

Effect of a single impurity on the local density of states in monolayer and bilayer graphene

We use the T-matrix approximation to analyze the effect of a localized impurity on the local density of states in mono- and bilayer graphene. For monolayer graphene the Friedel oscillations generated by intranodal scattering obey an inverse-square law, while the internodal ones obey an inverse law. In the Fourier transform this translates into a filled circle of high intensity in the center of the Brillouin zone, and empty circular contours around its corners. For bilayer graphene both types of oscillations obey an inverse law.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, version accepted for publicatio