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arXiv · 1411.6925

Quantum critical elasticity

Mario Zacharias·Indranil Paul·Markus Garst
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Abstract

We discuss elastic instabilities of the atomic crystal lattice at zero temperature. Due to long-range shear forces of the solid, at such transitions the phonon velocities vanish, if at all, only along certain crystallographic directions, and, consequently, the critical phonon fluctuations are suppressed to a lower dimensional manifold and governed by a Gaussian fixed-point. In case of symmetry-breaking elastic transitions, a characteristic critical phonon thermodynamics arises that is found, e.g., to violate Debye's $T^3$-law for the specific heat. We point out that quantum critical elasticity is triggered whenever a critical soft mode couples linearly to the strain tensor. In particular, this is relevant for the electronic Ising-nematic quantum phase transition in a tetragonal crystal as discussed in the context of certain cuprates, ruthenates and iron-based superconductors.

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Mario Zacharias, Indranil Paul, Markus Garst. 2014-11-25. Quantum critical elasticity. https://arxiv.org/abs/1411.6925

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