Stability of the N\'eel quantum critical point in the presence of Dirac fermions

Abstract

We investigate the stability of the N\'eel quantum critical point of two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets, described by a non-linear $\sigma$ model (NL$\sigma$M), in the presence of a Kondo coupling to $N_f$ flavours of two-component Dirac fermion fields. The long-wavelength order parameter fluctuations are subject to Landau damping by electronic particle-hole fluctuations. Using momentum-shell RG, we demonstrate that the Landau damping is weakly irrelevant at the N\'eel quantum critical point, despite the fact that the corresponding self-energy correction dominates over the quadratic gradient terms in the IR limit. In the ordered phase, the Landau damping increases under the RG, indicative of damped spin-wave excitations. Although the Kondo coupling is weakly relevant, sufficiently strong Landau damping renders the N\'eel quantum critical point quasi-stable for $N_f\ge 4$ and thermodynamically stable for $N_f<4$. In the latter case, we identify a new multi-critical point which describes the transition between the N\'eel critical and Kondo run-away regimes. The symmetry breaking at this fixed point results in the opening of a gap in the Dirac fermion spectrum. Approaching the multi-critical point from the disordered phase, the fermionic quasiparticle residue vanishes, giving rise to non-Fermi-liquid behavior.