High-temperature signatures of quantum criticality in heavy fermion systems

We propose a new criterion for distinguishing the Hertz-Millis (HM) and the local quantum critical (LQC) mechanism in heavy fermion systems with a magnetic quantum phase transition (QPT). The criterion is based on our finding that the spin screening of Kondo ions can be completely suppressed by the RKKY coupling to the surrounding magnetic ions even without magnetic ordering and that, consequently, the signature of this suppression can be observed in spectroscopic measurements above the magnetic ordering temperature. We apply the criterion to high-resolution photoemission (UPS) measurements on CeCu$_{6-x}$Au$_{x}$ and conclude that the QPT in this system is dominated by the LQC scenario.Comment: Inveted paper, International Conference on Magnetism, ICM 2009, Karlsruhe. Published version, added discussions of the relevance of Fermi-surface fluctuations and of a structural transition near the QC

ISOANTIGENS OF THE H-2 AND Tla LOCI OF THE MOUSE : INTERACTIONS AFFECTING THEIR REPRESENTATION ON THYMOCYTES

H-2 and TL isoantigens of the mouse are specified by the closely linked genetic loci H-2 and Tla. A. study of their representation on thymocytes was performed in order to reveal any interactions between the determinant genes or their products affecting the synthesis or disposition of these components of the thymocyte surface. The method employed was quantitative absorption of cytotoxic antibody by viable thymocytes. The phenotypic expression of TL antigens was found to reduce the demonstrable amount of certain H-2 antigens to as little as 34% of the quantity demonstrable on TL- thymocytes. A reduction was observed in all three H-2 types tested, (H-2b, H-2a, and H-2k). As antigenic modulation (change of TL phenotype from TL+ to TL-, produced by TL antibody) is known to entail a compensatory increase in H-2(D) antigen, it is concluded that the TL phenotype, rather than the Tla genotype, influences the surface representation of H-2 antigens. The two known TL+ phenotypes of thymocytes (TL.2 and TL.1,2,3) depress H-2 equally. The H-2 specificities affected are those determined by the D end of the E-2 locus, which is adjacent to Tla; antigens of the K end, which is distal to Tla, are not depressed. The reduction of demonstrable H-2 antigen on the thymocytes of TL+ x TL- progeny is half that of thymocytes of TL+ x TL+ progeny and the reduction affects equally the products of both H-2 alleles (cis and trans in relation to Tla), indicating that the mechanism of H-2 reduction by TL is extrachromosomal. Whether it involves diminished synthesis of H-2 or steric masking by TL at the cell membrane is unknown, but in either case the reciprocal relation of TL and H-2(D) antigens implies that they probably occupy adjacent positions on thymocytes and that the gene order, H-2(K): H-2(D):Tla is reflected in cell surface structure. Extrachromosomal interaction, apparently involving control of synthesis, occurs also within the TL system of antigens. Thymocytes of TL.2 x TL.1,2,3 progeny express the full homozygous quantity of antigens TL.1 and TL.3 (but not of TL.2), in contrast to the half-quantity present in thymocytes of TL- x TL.1,2,3 progeny. Another example of interaction is implicit in the finding that thymocytes of TL-1,2,3 x TL.1,2,3 progeny have more TL.2 antigen than thymocytes of TL.2 x TL.2 progeny, but in this instance there is nothing to indicate whether the mechanism is chromosomal or extrachromosomal. Thus the quantitative surface representation of at least some H-2 and TL antigens is influenced by the cellular complement of H-2:Tla genes as a whole. Comparison of H-2 heterozygous thymocytes with H-2 homozygous thymocytes in quantitative absorption tests shows (a) more than the expected 50% of each parental-type H-2 antigen on heterozygous cells, and (b) a greater suppression of H-2 by TL in H-2 heterozygotes in comparison with H-2 homozygotes. Both results may be explained on the basis of differences in the density of H-2 antigenic sites and consequent differences in the efficiency of absorption of H-2 antibody. These considerations may be useful in other contexts, e.g. in estimating the representation of Rh antigens on the red cells of human subjects homozygous and heterozygous for Rh components

THE GIX SYSTEM : A CELL SURFACE ALLO-ANTIGEN ASSOCIATED WITH MURINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS; IMPLICATIONS REGARDING CHROMOSOMAL INTEGRATION OF THE VIRAL GENOME

This report concerns a cell surface antigen (GIX; G = Gross) which exhibits mendelian inheritance but which also appears de novo in cells that become productively infected with MuLV (Gross), the wild-type leukemia virus of the mouse. In normal mice, GIX is a cell surface allo-antigen confined to lymphoid cells and found in highest amount on thymocytes. Four categories of inbred mouse strains can be distinguished according to how much GIX antigen is expressed on their thymocytes. GIX- strains have none; in the three GIX+ categories, GIX3, GIX2, and GIX1, the amounts of GIX antigen present (per thymocyte) are approximately in the ratios 3:2:1. A study of segregating populations derived mainly from strain 129 (the prototype GIX3 strain) and C57BL/6 (the prototype GIX- strain) revealed that two unlinked chromosomal genes are required for expression of GIX on normal lymphoid cells. The phenotype GIX+ is expressed only when both genes are present, as in 129 mice. C57BL/6 carries neither of them. At one locus, expression of GIX is fully dominant over nonexpression (GIX fully expressed in heterozygotes). At the second locus, which is linked with H-2 (at a distance of 36.4 ± 2.7 units) in group IX (locus symbol GIX), expression is semidominant (50% expression of GIX in heterozygotes); gene order T:H-2:Tla:GIX. As a rule, when cells of GIX- mice or rats become overtly infected with MuLV (Gross), an event which occurs spontaneously in older mice of certain strains and which also commonly accompanies malignant transformation, their phenotype is converted to GIX+. This invites comparison with the emergence of TL+ leukemia cells in TL- mouse strains which has been observed in previous studies and which implies that TL- → TL+ conversion has accompanied leukemic transformation of such cells. So far the only example of GIX- → GIX+ conversion taking place without overt MuLV infection is represented by the occurrence of GCSA-:GIX+ myelomas in BALB/c (GCSA:GIX-) mice. Unlike the other Gross cell surface antigen described earlier, GCSA, which is invariably associated with MuLV (Gross) infection and never occurs in its absence, GIX antigen sometimes occurs independently of productive MuLV infection; for example, thymocytes and some leukemias of 129 mice are GCSA-:GIX+, and MuLV-producing sarcomas may be GCSA+:GIX-. The frequent emergence of cells of GIX+ phenotype in all mouse strains implies that the structural gene coding for GIX antigen is common to all mice. There is precedent for this in the TL system, in which two of the Tla genes in linkage group IX appear to be ubiquitous among mice, but are normally expressed only in strains of mice carrying a second (expression) gene. It is not yet certain whether either of the two segregating genes belongs to the MuLV genome rather than to the cellular genome. This leaves the question whether MuLV may have a chromosomal integration site still debatable. But there is a good prospect that further genetic analysis will provide the answer and so elucidate the special relationship of leukemia viruses to the cells of their natural hosts

Interplay of disorder and spin fluctuations in the resistivity near a quantum critical point

The resistivity in metals near an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point (QCP) is strongly affected by small amounts of disorder. In a quasi-classical treatment, we show that an interplay of strongly anisotropic scattering due to spin fluctuations and isotropic impurity scattering leads to a large regime where the resistivity varies as T^alpha, with an anomalous exponent, alpha, 1 <= alpha <= 1.5, depending on the amount of disorder. I argue that this mechanism explains in some detail the anomalous temperature dependence of the resistivity observed in CePd_2Si_2, CeNi_2Ge_2 and CeIn_3 near the QCP.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figures, published version, only small change

The superconducting gaps in LiFeAs: Joint study of specific heat and ARPES

We present specific heat, c_P, and ARPES data on single crystals of the stoichiometric superconductor LiFeAs. A pronounced anomaly is found in c_P at the superconducting transition. The electronic contribution can be described by two s-type energy gaps with magnitudes of approximately Delta1 = 1.2 meV and Delta2 = 2.6 meV and a normal-state gamma coefficient of 10 mJ/mol K^2. All these values are in remarkable agreement with ARPES results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

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 ${\rm YbRh}_2{\rm Si}_2$ and ${\rm CeCu}_{6-x}{\rm Au}_x$, 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 ${\rm CeCu}_{6-x}{\rm Au}_x$. We expect to see the same behaviour from future experiments on ${\rm YbRh}_2{\rm Si}_2$.Comment: RevTex, two-column, 7 pages, 2 figure

Interplay between unconventional superconductivity and heavy-fermion quantum criticality: CeCu2_2Si2_2 versus YbRh2_2Si2_2

In this paper the low-temperature properties of two isostructural canonical heavy-fermion compounds are contrasted with regards to the interplay between antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum criticality and superconductivity. For CeCu$_2$Si$_2$, fully-gapped d-wave superconductivity forms in the vicinity of an itinerant three-dimensional heavy-fermion spin-density-wave (SDW) quantum critical point (QCP). Inelastic neutron scattering results highlight that both quantum critical SDW fluctuations as well as Mott-type fluctuations of local magnetic moments contribute to the formation of Cooper pairs in CeCu$_2$Si$_2$. In YbRh$_2$Si$_2$, superconductivity appears to be suppressed at $T\gtrsim~10$ mK by AF order ($T_N$ = 70 mK). Ultra-low temperature measurements reveal a hybrid order between nuclear and 4f-electronic spins, which is dominated by the Yb-derived nuclear spins, to develop at $T_A$ slightly above 2 mK. The hybrid order turns out to strongly compete with the primary 4f-electronic order and to push the material towards its QCP. Apparently, this paves the way for heavy-fermion superconductivity to form at $T_c$ = 2 mK. Like the pressure - induced QCP in CeRhIn$_5$, the magnetic field - induced one in YbRh$_2$Si$_2$ is of the local Kondo-destroying variety which corresponds to a Mott-type transition at zero temperature. Therefore, these materials form the link between the large family of about fifty low-$T$ unconventional heavy - fermion superconductors and other families of unconventional superconductors with higher $T_c$s, notably the doped Mott insulators of the cuprates, organic charge-transfer salts and some of the Fe-based superconductors. Our study suggests that heavy-fermion superconductivity near an AF QCP is a robust phenomenon.Comment: 30 pages, 7 Figures, Accepted for publication in Philosophical Magazin

Field-induced quantum fluctuations in the heavy fermion superconductor CeCu2Ge2

Quantum-mechanical fluctuations in strongly correlated electron systems cause unconventional phenomena such as non-Fermi liquid behavior, and arguably high temperature superconductivity. Here we report the discovery of a field-tuned quantum critical phenomenon in stoichiometric CeCu2Ge2, a spin density wave ordered heavy fermion metal that exhibits unconventional superconductivity under ~ 10 GPa of applied pressure. Our finding of the associated quantum critical spin fluctuations of the antiferromagnetic spin density wave order, dominating the local fluctuations due to single-site Kondo effect, provide new information about the underlying mechanism that can be important in understanding superconductivity in this novel compound.Comment: Heavy Fermion, Quantum Critical Phenomeno