Singularities and Pseudogaps in the Density of States of Peierls Chains

We develop a non-perturbative method to calculate the density of states (DOS) of the fluctuating gap model describing the low-energy physics of electrons on a disordered Peierls chain. For real order parameter field we calculate the DOS at the Fermi energy exactly as a functional of the disorder for a chain of finite length L. Averaging rho (0) with respect to a Gaussian probability distribution of the Peierls order parameter, we show that in the thermodynamic limit the average DOS at the Fermi energy diverges for any finite value of the correlation length above the Peierls transition. Pseudogap behavior emerges only if the Peierls order parameter is finite and sufficiently large.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; one more reference added; final version to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. (Feb. 1999

Exactly solvable toy model for the pseudogap state

We present an exactly solvable toy model which describes the emergence of a pseudogap in an electronic system due to a fluctuating off-diagonal order parameter. In one dimension our model reduces to the fluctuating gap model (FGM) with a gap Delta (x) that is constrained to be of the form Delta (x) = A e^{i Q x}, where A and Q are random variables. The FGM was introduced by Lee, Rice and Anderson [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf{31}}, 462 (1973)] to study fluctuation effects in Peierls chains. We show that their perturbative results for the average density of states are exact for our toy model if we assume a Lorentzian probability distribution for Q and ignore amplitude fluctuations. More generally, choosing the probability distributions of A and Q such that the average of Delta (x) vanishes and its covariance is < Delta (x) Delta^{*} (x^{prime}) > = Delta_s^2 exp[ {- | x - x^{\prime} | / \xi}], we study the combined effect of phase and amplitude fluctutations on the low-energy properties of Peierls chains. We explicitly calculate the average density of states, the localization length, the average single-particle Green's function, and the real part of the average conductivity. In our model phase fluctuations generate delocalized states at the Fermi energy, which give rise to a finite Drude peak in the conductivity. We also find that the interplay between phase and amplitude fluctuations leads to a weak logarithmic singulatity in the single-particle spectral function at the bare quasi-particle energies. In higher dimensions our model might be relevant to describe the pseudogap state in the underdoped cuprate superconductors.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, submitted to European Physical Journal

Ward identities for the Anderson impurity model: derivation via functional methods and the exact renormalization group

Using functional methods and the exact renormalization group we derive Ward identities for the Anderson impurity model. In particular, we present a non-perturbative proof of the Yamada-Yosida identities relating certain coefficients in the low-energy expansion of the self-energy to thermodynamic particle number and spin susceptibilities of the impurity. Our proof underlines the relation of the Yamada-Yosida identities to the U(1) x U(1) symmetry associated with particle number and spin conservation in a magnetic field.Comment: 8 pages, corrected statements about infintite flatband limi

Influence of the quantum zero-point motion of a vortex on the electronic spectra of s-wave superconductors

We compute the influence of the quantum zero-point motion of a vortex on the electronic quasiparticle spectra of s-wave superconductors. The vortex is assumed to be pinned by a harmonic potential, and its coupling to the quasiparticles is computed in the framework of BCS theory. Near the core of the vortex, the motion leads to a shift of spectral weight away from the chemical potential, and thereby reduces the zero bias conductance peak; additional structure at the frequency of the harmonic trap is also observed.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; (v2) added refs; (v3) removed discussion on d-wave superconductors and moved it to cond-mat/060600