Relevance of phonon dynamics in strongly correlated systems coupled to phonons: A Dynamical Mean Field Theory analysis

The properties of the electron-phonon interaction in the presence of a sizable electronic repulsion at finite doping are studied by investigating the metallic phase of the Hubbard-Holstein model with Dynamical Mean Field Theory. Analyzing the quasiparticle weight at finite doping, we find that a large Coulomb repulsion reduces the effect of electron-phonon coupling at low-energy, while this reduction is not present at high energy. The renormalization of the electron-phonon coupling induced by the Hubbard repul sion depends in a surprisingly strong and non-trivial way on the phonon frequency. Our results suggest that phonon might affect differently high-energy and low-energy properties and this, together with the effect of phonon dynamics, should be carefully taken into account when the effects of the electron-phonon interaction in a strongly correlated system, like the superconducting cuprates, are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures - revised version with minor change

Metallic surface of a bipolaronic insulator

We investigate the possibility that the surface of a strongly coupled electron-phonon system behaves differently from the bulk when the relevant parameters are inhomogeneous due to the presence of the interface. We consider parameter variations which make the surface either more metallic or more insulating than the bulk. While it appears impossible to stabilize a truly insulating surface when the bulk is metallic, the opposite situation can be realized. A metallic surface can indeed be decoupled from a bipolaronic insulator realized in the bulk.Comment: Accepted to PR

Small polaron formation in many-particle states of the Hubbard-Holstein model: The one-dimensional case

We investigate polaron formation in a many-electron system in the presence of a local repulsion sufficiently strong to prevent local-bipolaron formation. Specifically, we consider a Hubbard-Holstein model of interacting electrons coupled to dispersionless phonons of frequency $\omega_0$. Numerically solving the model in a small one-dimensional cluster, we find that in the nearly adiabatic case $\omega_0 < t$, the necessary and sufficient condition for the polaronic regime to occur is that the energy gain in the atomic (i.e., extremely localized) regime ${\cal E}_{pol}$ overcomes the energy of the purely electronic system ${\cal E}_{el}$. In the antiadiabatic case, $\omega_0 > t$, polaron formation is instead driven by the condition of a large ionic displacement $g/\omega_0 >1$ ($g$ being the electron-phonon coupling). Dynamical properties of the model in the weak and moderately strong coupling regimes are also analyzed

Electronic Correlation effects in superconducting picene from ab-initio calculations

We show, by means of ab-initio calculations, that electron-electron correlations play an important role in potassium-doped picene ($K_x$-picene), recently characterized as a superconductor with $T_c = 18K$. The inclusion of exchange interactions by means of hybrid functionals reproduces the correct gap for the undoped compound and predicts an antiferromagnetic state for $x=3$, where superconductivity has been observed. The latter finding is compatible with a sizable value of the correlation strength, in agreement with simple estimates. Our results highlight the similarity between potassium-doped picene and alkali-doped fulleride superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Electron-phonon interaction on bundled structures: static and transport properties

We study the small-polaron problem of a single electron interacting with the lattice for the Holstein model in the adiabatic limit on a comb lattice, when the electron-phonon interaction acts only on the base sites. The ground state properties can be easily deduced from the ones of a linear chain with an appropriate rescaling of the coupling constant. On the other hand, the dynamical properties, that involve the complete spectrum of the system, present an "exotic" behavior. In the weak coupling limit the Drude weight (zero-frequency conductivity) is enhanced with respect to its free-case value, contrary to the linear chain case, where for every finite value one has a suppression of the Drude peak. More interestingly, the loss of coherent electron motion and the polaronic localization of the carrier occurs for different coupling values. Thus for intermediate coupling, a novel phase appears with large kinetic energy and no coherent motion.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Phys. Rev. B, to appea

Surface Polaron Formation in the Holstein model

The effect of a solid-vacuum interface on the properties of a strongly coupled electron-phonon system is analyzed using dynamical mean-field theory to solve the Holstein model in a semi-infinite cubic lattice. Polaron formation is found to occur more easily (i.e., for a weaker electron-phonon coupling) on the surface than in the bulk. On the other hand, the metal-insulator transition associated to the binding of polarons takes place at a unique critical strength in the bulk and at the surface.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Dynamical behavior across the Mott transition of two bands with different bandwidths

We investigate the role of the bandwidth difference in the Mott metal-insulator transition of a two-band Hubbard model in the limit of infinite dimensions, by means of a Gutzwiller variational wave function as well as by dynamical mean-field theory. The variational calculation predicts a two-stage quenching of the charge degrees of freedom, in which the narrower band undergoes a Mott transition before the wider one, both in the presence and in the absence of a Hund's exchange coupling. However, this scenario is not fully confirmed by the dynamical mean-field theory calculation, which shows that, although the quasiparticle residue of the narrower band is zero within our numerical accuracy, low-energy spectral weight still exists inside the Mott-Hubbard gap, concentrated into two peaks symmetric around the chemical potential. This spectral weight vanishes only when the wider band ceases to conduct too. Although our results are compatible with several scenarios, e.g., a narrow gap semiconductor or a semimetal, we argue that the most plausible one is that the two peaks coexist with a narrow resonance tied at the chemical potential, with a spectral weight below our numerical accuracy. This quasiparticle resonance is expected to vanish when the wider band undergoes the Mott transition.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

On the possible secondary component of the order parameter observed in London penetration depth measurements

We discuss the effect of a secondary component of the superconducting order parameter on the superfluid density in the cuprates. If we assume a main $d_{x^2-y^2}$ gap, the most stable realization of a mixed order parameter has a time-reversal breaking $d_{x^2-y^2}+ \imath d_{xy}$ symmetry. In this state the nodes are removed and the temperature dependence of the superfluid density changes from the linear behavior of a pure d-wave to a more rounded shape at low temperature. The latter is compatible with the behavior experimentally observed in the in-plane magnetic field penetration depth of optimally doped $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_2$ and $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}$.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.