arXiv subjects

A. Toschi

Publications and source records attributed to A. Toschi.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Kinks: Fingerprints of strong electronic correlations

The textbook knowledge of solid state physics is that the electronic specific heat shows a linear temperature dependence with the leading corrections being a cubic term due to phonons and a cubic-logarithmic term due to the interaction of electrons with bosons. We have shown that this longstanding conception needs to be supplemented since the generic behavior of the low-temperature electronic specific heat includes a kink if the electrons are sufficiently strongly correlated

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Comparing pertinent effects of antiferromagnetic fluctuations in the two and three dimensional Hubbard model

We use the dynamical vertex approximation (D$Γ$A) with a Moriyaesque $% λ$ correction for studying the impact of antiferromagnetic fluctuations on the spectral function of the Hubbard model in two and three dimensions. Our results show the suppression of the quasiparticle weight in three dimensions and dramatically stronger impact of spin fluctuations in two dimensions where the pseudogap is formed at low enough temperatures. Even in the presence of the Hubbard subbands, the origin of the pseudogap at weak-to-intermediate coupling is in the splitting of the quasiparticle peak. At stronger coupling (closer to the insulating phase) the splitting of Hubbard subbands is expected instead. The $\mathbf{k}$-dependence of the self energy appears to be also much more pronounced in two dimensions as can be observed in the $\mathbf{k}$-resolved D$Γ$A spectra, experimentally accessible by angular resolved photoemission spectroscopy in layered correlated systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Pressure and alloying effects on the metal to insulator transition in NiS{2-x}Se{x} studied by infrared spectroscopy

The metal to insulator transition in the charge transfer NiS{2-x}Se{x} compound has been investigated through infrared reflectivity. Measurements performed by applying pressure to pure NiS2 (lattice contraction) and by Se-alloying (lattice expansion) reveal that in both cases an anomalous metallic state is obtained. We find that optical results are not compatible with the linear Se-alloying vs Pressure scaling relation previously established through transport, thus pointing out the substantially different microscopic origin of the two transitions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Kinks in the electronic specific heat

We find that the heat capacity of a strongly correlated metal presents striking changes with respect to Landau Fermi liquid theory. In contrast with normal metals, where the electronic specific heat is linear at low temperature (with a T^3 term as a leading correction), a dynamical mean-field study of the correlated Hubbard model reveals a clear kink in the temperature dependence, marking a rapid change from a low-temperature linear behavior and a second linear regime with a reduced slope. Experiments on LiV2O4 support our findings, implying that correlated materials are more resistive to cooling at low T than expected from the intermediate temperature behavior.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Turning a nickelate Fermi surface into a cuprate-like one through heterostructuring

Using the local density approximation and its combination with dynamical mean-field theory, we show that electronic correlations induce a single-sheet, cuprate-like Fermi surface for hole-doped 1/1 LaNiO3 /LaAlO3 heterostructures, even though both eg orbitals contribute to it. The Ni 3d 3z^2-1 orbital plays the role of the axial Cu 4s-like orbital in the cuprates. These two results indicate that "orbital engineering" by means of heterostructuring should be possible. As we also find strong antiferromagnetic correlations, the low-energy electronic and spin excitations in nickelate heterostructures resemble those of high-temperature cuprate superconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Dynamical vertex approximation -- an introduction

We give an elementary introduction to a recent diagrammatic extension of dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) coined dynamical vertex approximation (D$Γ$A). This approach contains the important local correlations of DMFT, giving, among others, rise to quasiparticle renormalizations, Mott-Hubbard transitions and magnetism, but also non-local correlations beyond. The latter are at the very essence of many physical phenomena in strongly correlated elecectron systems. As correlations are treated equally on all length scales, D$Γ$A allows us to describe physical phenomena such as magnons, quantum criticality, and the interplay between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity. We review results hitherto obtained for the Hubbard model in dimensions d=3, 2, and 1.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Quasiparticle evolution and pseudogap formation in V2O3: An infrared spectroscopy study

The infrared conductivity of V2O3 is measured in the whole phase diagram. Quasiparticles appear above the Neel temperature TN and eventually disappear further enhancing the temperature, leading to a pseudogap in the optical spectrum above 425 K. Our calculations demonstrate that this loss of coherence can be explained only if the temperature dependence of lattice parameters is considered. V2O3 is therefore effectively driven from the metallic to the insulating side of the Mott transition as the temperature is increased.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Optical sum rule anomalies in the cuprates: interplay between strong correlation and electronic bandstructures

We theoretically analyze some of the anomalies of the optical sumrules in the high-temperature superconductors. In particular we address the particularly strong dependence on temperature of the sumrule in the normal state. Both electron-electron correlations and the presence of a Van-Hove singularity have been shown to enhance such a dependence. Here we consider both effects simultaneously by means of Dynamical Mean-Field Theory for a two dimensional Hubbard model with realistic parameters for different cuprates, and we find that the two effects are not cooperative, as they appear to compete one another in the region of parameters relevant for the experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Dynamical vertex approximation - a step beyond dynamical mean field theory

We develop a diagrammatic approach with local and nonlocal self-energy diagrams, constructed from the local irreducible vertex. This approach includes the local correlations of dynamical mean field theory and long-range correlations beyond. It allows for example to describe (para-)magnons and weak localization effects in strongly correlated systems. As a first application, we study the interplay between nonlocal antiferromagnetic correlations and the strong local correlations emerging in the vicinity of a Mott-Hubbard transition.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Static vs. dynamical mean field theory of Mott antiferromagnets

Studying the antiferromagnetic phase of the Hubbard model by dynamical mean field theory, we observe striking differences with static (Hartree-Fock) mean field: The Slater band is strongly renormalized and spectral weight is transferred to spin-polaron side bands. Already for intermediate values of the interaction $U$ the overall bandwidth is larger than in Hartree-Fock, and the gap is considerably smaller. Such differences survive any renormalization of $U$. Our photoemission experiments for Cr-doped V$_2$O$_3$ show spectra qualitatively well described by dynamical mean field theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Quasi-particle dephasing time in disordered d-wave superconductors

We evaluate the low-temperature cutoff for quantum interference 1/tf induced in a d-wave superconductor by the diffusion enhanced quasiparticle interactions in the presence of disorder. We carry out our analysis in the framework of the non-linear sigma-model which allows a direct calculation of 1/tf, as the mass of the transverse modes of the theory. Only the triplet amplitude in the particle-hole channel and the Cooper amplitude with is pairing symmetry contribute to 1/tf. We discuss the possible relevance of our results to the present disagreement between thermal transport data in cuprates and the localization theory for d-wave quasiparticles.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Temperature dependence of the optical spectral weight in the cuprates: Role of electron correlations

We compare calculations based on the Dynamical Mean-Field Theory of the Hubbard model with the infrared spectral weight $W(Ω,T)$ of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ and other cuprates. Without using fitting parameters we show that most of the anomalies found in $W(Ω,T)$ with respect to normal metals, including the existence of two different energy scales for the doping- and the $T$-dependence of $W(Ω,T)$, can be ascribed to strong correlation effects.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Energetic balance of the superconducting transition across the BCS-Bose E instein crossover in the attractive Hubbard model

We investigate by means of Dynamical Mean-Field Theory the crossover from BCS superconductivity to Bose-Einstein (BE) condensation of preformed pairs in the attractive Hubbard model. We follow the evolution of the two energy scales underlying the superconducting phenomenon, the gap $Δ_0$ and the superfluid stiffness $D_S$, which controls the phase coherence. The BCS-BE crossover is clearly mirrored in a change in the hierarchy of these two scales, the smallest of the two controlling the critical temperature. In the whole intermediate-to-strong coupling region $T_c$ scales with $D_S$, while $T_C$ is proportional to $Δ_0$ only in the BCS regime. This evolution as a function of the interaction qualitatively resembles what happens in the cuprates when the doping is decreased towards the Mott insulator. This continuous change reflects also in the energetic balance at the superconducting transition. While superconductivity is stabilized by a potential energy gain in the BCS regime, the strong-coupling superconductivity is made stable by a reduction of kinetic energy. Interestingly the intermediate-coupling region, where the maximum $T_c$ is achieved, behaves similarly to the strong-coupling regime. The above finding implies that the attractive Hubbard model can account qualitatively for the anomalous behavior of optical spectra around $T_c$, where an increase of spectral weight is observed in under and optimally doped cuprates, while the overdoped samples have a more standard behavior. This qualitative agreement is lost in the normal phase, specifically at strong-coupling, calling for the inclusion of strong correlation effects in the theoretical description.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Pairing and Superconductivity from weak to strong coupling in the Attractive Hubbard model

The finite-temperature phase diagram of the attractive Hubbard model is studied by means of the Dynamical Mean Field Theory. We first consider the normal phase of the model by explicitly frustrating the superconducting ordering. In this case we obtain a first-order pairing transition between a metallic phase and a paired phase formed by strongly coupled incoherent pairs. The transition line ends in a finite temperature critical point, but a crossover between two qualitatively different solutions still occurs at higher temperature. Comparing the superconducting and the normal phase solutions, we find that the superconducting instability always occurs before the pairing transition in the normal phase takes place, i.e., $T_c > T_{pairing}$. Nevertheless, the high-temperature phase diagram at $T > T_c$ is still characterized by a crossover from a metallic phase to a preformed pair phase. We characterize this crossover by computing different observables that can be used to identify the pseudogap region, like the spin susceptibility, the specific heat and the single-particle spectral function.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

The low-energy phase-only action in a superconductor: a comparison with the XY model

The derivation of the effective theory for the phase degrees of freedom in a superconductor is still, to some extent, an open issue. It is commonly assumed that the classical XY model and its quantum generalizations can be exploited as effective phase-only models. In the quantum regime, however, this assumption leads to spurious results, such as the violation of the Galilean invariance in the continuum model. Starting from a general microscopic model, in this paper we explicitly derive the effective low-energy theory for the phase, up to fourth-order terms. This expansion allows us to properly take into account dynamic effects beyond the Gaussian level, both in the continuum and in the lattice model. After evaluating the one-loop correction to the superfluid density we critically discuss the qualitative and quantitative differences between the results obtained within the quantum XY model and within the correct low-energy theory, both in the case of s-wave and d-wave symmetry of the superconducting order parameter. Specifically, we find dynamic anharmonic vertices, which are absent in the quantum XY model, and are crucial to restore Galilean invariance in the continuum model. As far as the more realistic lattice model is concerned, in the weak-to-intermediate-coupling regime we find that the phase-fluctuation effects are quantitatively reduced with respect to the XY model. On the other hand, in the strong-coupling regime we show that the correspondence between the microscopically derived action and the quantum XY model is recovered, except for the low-density regime.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Coherence length in superconductors from weak to strong coupling

We study the evolution of the superconducting coherence length $ξ_0$ from weak to strong coupling, both within a s-wave and a d-wave lattice model. We show that the identification of $ξ_0$ with the Cooper-pair size $ξ_{pair}$ in the weak-coupling regime is meaningful only for a fully-gapped (e.g., s-wave) superconductor. Instead in the d-wave superconductor, where $ξ_{pair}$ diverges, we show that $ξ_0$ is properly defined as the characteristic length scale for the correlation function of the modulus of the superconducting order parameter. The strong-coupling regime is quite intriguing, since the interplay between particle-particle and particle-hole channel is no more negligible. In the case of s-wave pairing, which allows for an analytical treatment, we show that $ξ_0$ is of order of the lattice spacing at finite densities. In the diluted regime $ξ_0$ diverges, recovering the behavior of the coherence length of a weakly interacting effective bosonic system. Similar results are expected to hold for d-wave superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Phase fluctuations in superconductors: from Galilean invariant to quantum XY models

We analyze the corrections to the superfluid density due to phase fluctuations within both a continuum and a lattice model for $s$- and d-wave superconductors. We expand the phase-only action beyond the Gaussian level and compare our results with the quantum XY model both in the quantum and in the classical regime. We find new dynamic anharmonic vertices, absent in the quantum XY model, which are responsible for the vanishing of the correction to the superfluid density at zero temperature in a continuum (Galilean invariant) model. Moreover the phase-fluctuation effects are reduced with respect to the XY model by a factor at least of order $1/(k_Fξ_0)^2$.

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